BRISTOL, TN – The Emmanuel University Women's Volleyball team competed for the Conference Carolinas Championship this afternoon in a matchup against #4 seed, North Greenville. The Lions took the early lead, taking the first set, 25-21. The Trailblazers responded to win set two, 25-18 but the Lions rallied to win the final two sets, 25-22, 25-12. With the win, the Lions earned their first Conference Championship title since 2023! 

The Lions took an early 10-3 lead in the first set on kills by Marusa Pesut, Faith Kelly, Ellie Jackson and Brooke Lee. The Trailblazers cut the Lions lead to 11-7, but the Lions pulled ahead 14-7 on kills by Kelly. Late in the set, the Lions led 19-13 after a kill by Brianna Bigelow. The Trailblazers got within two points of the lead, 21-19 but the Lions closed out the set strong to take it, 25-21.

North Greenville opened up the 2^nd set strong, leading 7-2 early. The Lions cut the lead to 12-7 on a kill by Cailin Pritchard but the Trailblazers pulled back ahead 17-10. North Greenville pushed their lead to 23-13 late, but the Lions used kills by Jackson, Lee and Kelly to cut the lead to 23-17. North Greenville would close out the set strong to win it, 25-18.

The third set saw North Greenville jump out to a 4-1 lead. Midway through the set, the Trailblazers led 11-6 and Emmanuel responded with kills by Lee and Pritchard to tie the set at 14-14. NGU pushed back ahead, 17-14 but the Lions rallied on kills by Jackson and Kelly to tie the set at 19-19. The Lions took the 20-19 lead on an attack error by the Trailblazers, and used kills by Lee and Jackson to close out the set with a 25-22 win. 

The Lions carried their momentum into the 4^th set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead on kills by Pritchard and a service ace by Brooke Lee. North Greenville cut the lead to 10-7, but the Lions responded with key plays by Lee, Kelly, and Bigelow to push it to 18-11. The Lions closed out the set on a 6-1 run to earn the 25-12 set four win and the 3-1 victory to earn the Conference title. 

Overall, the Lions had 48 kills, 46 assists, 4 aces, 96 digs and 6 blocks. 

Faith Kelly led the way with 12 kills, with Ellie Jackson and Brooke Lee adding 10 apiece. Marusa Pesut picked up 39 assists, with Sami Gambill leading the Lions with 2 aces. Cailin Pritchard had 2 blocks on the night, with Ellie Jackson leading the team with 25 digs, with Asia Queen adding 22. 

Now the Lions will wait to see who they'll match up with in the first round of the NCAA DII Regional Tournament, which will be hosted at the #1 seed, Wingate University. The Selection Show will be tomorrow at 7:30PM.

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