Mount Olive rallied to force a fifth set, but Pfeiffer scored the final three points of the match to defeat the Trojans 21-25, 25-13, 25-21, 22-25, 16-14 in Conference Carolinas women's volleyball Tuesday at Misenheimer, N.C. Carly White led the Trojans with 13 kills, while freshman Alysha Tyms-Burnett added a career-high 12 kills.

After winning the first set and dropping the next two, Mount Olive (13-14 overall, 9-7 Conference Carolinas) used aces by Tyms-Burnett and Nicole Sparks to jump out to a 10-5 lead in the fourth set. The Trojans still held a 19-14 lead before Pfeiffer rallied to tie the set 22-22 on Anna Vizvary's kill. A Falcon attack error put Mount Olive back on top and Tyms-Burnett and White followed with a block. Tyms-Burnett recorded a kill on set point to even the match at two sets apiece.

Mount Olive led throughout the early part of the fifth set as a block by Danielle Plante and Montgomery Register gave the Trojans a 9-7 lead. Pfeiffer rallied with three unanswered points to give the Falcons their first lead of the set.

The Trojans tied the set on Sarah Robertson's cross-court kill and Sparks' dig off of her chest set up Plante with a kill on the left side to put Mount Olive back on top 11-10. After service errors by both teams helped knot the score at 12 apiece, Trojan setter Elyse Keating turned a potential overpass into a second ball kill to give Mount Olive a 13-12 lead.

Pfeiffer tied the set on another Trojan service error, but White's kill set up match point for Mount Olive. After a Pfeiffer timeout, the Falcons saved match point on Shelby Younger's kill. Lauren Carman followed with an ace to give Pfeiffer its first match point. Mount Olive called timeout, but Pfeiffer closed out an extended rally on Kelly Lancellot's kill to give the Falcons' their second five-set win over the Trojans this season.

In the opening set, an ace by Sparks and four kills by Tyms-Burnett highlighted a 9-2 run that turned a three-point deficit into a 12-8 Mount Olive lead and put the Trojans ahead to stay. Pfeiffer pulled within one point on five occasions, but Mount Olive capitalized on five Falcon service errors to maintain the lead. Kills by Lauren Lee and Carly White on the final two points closed out the set.

Pfeiffer (8-21, 5-11) built another 6-3 advantage in the second set, but the Falcons would stay on top the remainder of the set. Mount Olive rallied from a five-point deficit after Register's ace pulled the Trojans within 10-8. Pfeiffer used a pair of kills by Brianna Jones during a 6-1 run and the margin never fell below six points. Another kill by Jones gave the Falcons their first double-digit lead at 22-12.

Mount Olive led 11-8 in the third set as another ace by Register keyed a four-point Trojan run. Pfeiffer rallied to even the set and Kelsey Blauser ignited a 6-0 run with a kill and two blocks as the Falcons broke away from a 16-16 tie. The Trojans fought off three set points before Pfeiffer took a 2-1 lead in sets.

White shared match-high honors with seven blocks, while Tyms-Burnett and Sarah Watkins added four blocks apiece. Sparks served three aces and led all players with 19 digs, 14 coming in the first two sets. Keating finished with 34 assists.

Jones had a match-high 14 kills for Pfeiffer, while Younger added 13 kills and Blauser finished with 10 kills and seven blocks. Haley Denny led all players with four aces.

The loss dropped Mount Olive from a third-place tie into fourth place in the conference standings, a half-game behind Barton and a half-game ahead of Limestone. The top four teams in the final regular season standings have homecourt advantage in the quarterfinal round of the Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball Tournament, which gets underway November 16.

Mount Olive wraps up regular season play this weekend with a pair of conference matches on the road. The Trojans travel to Banner Elk, N.C., Friday to take on Lees-McRae, then head to Bristol, Tenn., Saturday to face King. Friday's match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and Saturday's match time is 2 p.m.