Wilson, NC – The Emmanuel Women's Volleyball team continued their road trip today with a matchup against Barton College at Wilson Gymnasium. The Bulldogs got off to a quick start winning the first two sets, 25-21, 25-23. The Lions roared back to pull the reverse sweep winning the final three sets, 25-15, 25-20, 15-9. With the win, the Lions improve to 9-5 on the season, 7-1 in conference play.

The first set saw the Bulldogs jump out to an early 4- 2 lead. The Lions responded well to tie the set at 5-5 on an attack error by Barton. The Bulldogs took the lead again 10-8, but the Lions used a kill by Brooke Lee an errors by Barton to earn the advantage, 12-11. The two teams would trade points and the lead until a 4-0 run by Barton would give them the 16-13 lead. The Lions would come back to within a point of the lead on kills by Ellie Jackson and Marusa Pesut, but the Bulldogs would close out the set on a 3-0 run to earn the 25-21 victory.

The Bulldogs carried their momentum into set two taking an early 5-2 lead. An 8-0 run by Barton would push their lead to 16-5 midway through the set, but the Lions roared back. The Lions used a 5-0 to cut the Bulldogs lead to 17-11 and used a 7-0 run late made up of kills by Natalie Wilson and Brooke Lee along with an ace by Ellie Jackson to make it 20-19 Bulldogs. The two teams battled to close out the set with Barton getting a kill to earn the set point, 25-23. 

Barton jumped ahead 4-1 in set three, but the Lions responded well behind kills by Wilson and Jackson to take a 6-5 lead. Three consecutive kills by Jackson pushed the Lions lead to 11-8 and the Lions continued to roll, with kills by Lee and Bigelow giving Emmanuel a 16-11 advantage. The Lions closed out the set on a 8-2 run, with kills by Wilson, Lee, and Cailin Pritchard to give the Lions the set three win, 25-15. 

The two teams traded points and the lead early in the fourth set, with Barton going up 6-3. The Lions responded with kills by Lee and Pritchard to make it 7-7. A 4-0 run for the Lions made it 12-9 midway through the set. The Lions kept the lead behind strong play up front from Lee and Wilson, but the Bulldogs didn't go away, getting within a point of the lead 17-16. The Lions closed out the set with a 5-2 run to take the set, 25-20 to tie the game at 2-2.

In the fifth set, the Bulldogs took an early 4-2 lead but Emmanuel responded well with a 7-0 run made up of kills by Jackson and Pritchard to take a 12-7 lead. The Lions closed out the set strong earning the final three points on a kill by Jackson and ace by Sami Gambill to win it, 15-9 and complete the reverse sweep, 3-2. 

Overall, the Lions had 64 kills, 3 aces, 5 blocks, 59 assists, and 87 digs.

Natalie Wilson led the way with 20 kills on the day, with Brooke Lee contributing 16 and Ellie Jackson adding 15. Marusa Pesut had a career high 51 assists, with Asia Queen also hitting a career high 32 digs on the day. Ellie Jackson and Cailin Pritchard led the team in blocks with 3 a piece, while Queen Jackson, and Sami Gambill each contributed an ace.

The Lions will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Augusta to take on Augusta University. First serve will be at 7PM. 

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