DeKALB |Delta Zeta won women’s tugs for the 10th consecutive year Saturday when they defeated Sigma Kappa in the trenches behind University Plaza Apartments, 900 Crane Drive.

Delta Zeta was able to bring the knot to its side in the second match, while Sigma Kappa’s coach stepped on the rope. The second match lasted a record-setting 57 minutes. Danielle Dyra, Panhellenic Council vice president of community service and events, said it’s the longest she can remember a match lasting.

The matches involved a lot of hanging with both teams holding on strong.

Hannah Iams, sophomore special education major and anchor for Delta Zeta, said it was her first time being on the rope in tugs, and she was still shaking afterwards.

“Honestly, [the 57 minutes] felt like 10 minutes,” Iams said. “[The match] just went so fast. We, [Delta Zeta,] wanted it more. That’s what it comes down to. I think both sides were really exhausted, but we just had more heart.”

Delta Zeta believes every inch is important and used this philosophy to motivate themselves throughout the tugs match.

“[We have] to fight for that one inch; that one inch is what’s going to win the game,” Iams said.

Matt Green, senior pre-physical therapy and psychology major and Delta Zeta head coach, called Sigma Kappa one of the best hanging teams he has ever seen and credited his team’s back hit and Sigma Kappa’s hang for winning the match.

Green compared Delta Zeta’s winning streak to that of Pi Kappa Alpha in the 80’s and 90’s.

“There’s very few years that [Pi Kappa Alpha] wasn’t the champions, and [Delta Zeta] has made [its] name in that similar caliber for [its] sport,” Green said.

Tugs means everything to Iams because the team is not just tugging for themselves.

“It’s so important to [us] because we’re not just tugging for ourselves, but we’re tugging for the nine years of other tuggers — all the [members of Delta Zeta] before us that tugged,” Iams said.