TIGERVILLE, SC – The Emmanuel Women's Volleyball team traveled to Tigerville, SC this afternoon to face North Greenville University in conference play. The Lions took an early lead, earning the first set win, 25-12. The Trailblazers responded well, winning the second set, 25-22. The Lions rallied to win set three, 25-11 but North Greenville finished strong to win the final two sets, 25-21, 16-14. With the loss, the Lions fall to 13-8 on the season, 10-4 in conference action. 

The Trailblazers jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the first set, but the Lions roared back with a 10-0 run to take the 10-3 lead on kills by Cailin Pritchard and Isabella Reyes plus services aces by Isabel Miller. The Lions pushed their lead to 19-9 on kills by Marusa Pesut, Brianna Bigelow and Faith Kelly and finished the set strong to win it, 25-12. 

The second set saw the Lions take an early 5-2 lead on kills by Pritchard, Ellie Jackson and Brooke Lee. North Greenville responded to take the lead, 8-7and the two teams traded points and the lead midway through the set when the Trailblazers pulled away. North Greenville got up by 5, 21-17 but the Lions rallied behind kills by Kelly, Reyes and consecutive aces by Isabel Miller to cut the Trailblazer lead to 22-21. North Greenville forced an attack error to take the set, 25-22. 

The third set was all Emmanuel. The Lions jumped out to a 7-2 lead and went on a 7-0 run midway through the set to make it 17-9. The Lions closed out the set on kills by Jackson, Pesut and Pritchard to win it 25-11.

The fourth set was back and forth. The Lions took an early 6-3 lead but the Trailblazers quickly tied things at 6-6. There were several ties and lead changes in the set, but the Trailblazers pulled ahead to take a 22-17 lead, the Lions cut the lead to 24-21, but North Greenville took the set on a service error, 25-21. 

The fifth set saw the Trailblazers jump ahead 6-3, but the Lions used attack errors by NGU to tie it at 6-6. The Lions took the lead 9-8 on an attack error, pushing their lead to 12-9 on a kill by Pritchard but the Trailblazers rallied to win the set, 16-14 and take the win, 3-2. 

Overall, the Lions had 56 kills, 54 assists, 8 aces, 103 digs, and 12 blocks. 

Cailin Pritchard led the team with 16 kills, with Ellie Jackson adding 14. Marusa Pesut had a career high 51 assists on the afternoon, with Isabel Miller hitting a career high 7 aces. Pritchard added 6 blocks on the night, with Faith Kelly contributing 4. Asia Queen ended the afternoon with 26 digs, with Isabel Miller adding 22 and Ellie Jackson grabbing 18, 

Next up, the Lions will host Shorter on Wednesday at 5PM. 

For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.