Franklin Springs, GA – The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball team hosted Reinhardt University tonight in non-conference action. The Lions jumped out to an early lead, taking set one 25-21, before falling to the Eagles in set two, 25-19. The Lions rallied to close out the game strong, taking the final two sets, 25-23, 25-14 to earn a 3-1 victory. With the win, the Lions improve to 4-18 on the season. 

The Eagles jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in set one. The Lions responded well, cutting the Eagles lead to 8-7 on kills by Thijs Van der Wal and Andrew Michael. The Eagles would pull ahead 16-12 midway through the set, but the Lions answered back using kills by Van der Wal and Aidan Feeney to tie the set at 17-17. The Lions took a 20-19 lead on a kill by Feeney and pulled ahead to score the final three points on attack errors by the Eagles and a kill by Lucas Nieves to give the Lions the set one win, 25-21. 

The Eagles responded well in the second set, using a 6-0 run to take a 10-3 lead. The Lions responded with kills by Feeney and Carlos Guerrero to cut the Eagles lead to 16-10 midway through the set. The Eagles responded with a 3-0 run to go up 19-10, but the Lions used a kill by Nieves and attack errors by the Eagles to cut Reinhardt's lead to 19-14. Kills by Feeney and a service ace by Van der Wal kept the Lions close, but the Eagles took set two, 25-19. 

In the third set, the Lions jumped out to a 5-2 lead on kills by Nieves, Feeney and Van der Wal. The Eagles responded with a 4-0 run to take an 8-5 lead but the Lions answered to tie it at 8-8. Midway through the set, the Eagles led 16-12, but the Lions used a 5-1 run including kills by Guerrero, Van der Wal and Feeney to cut the Eagles lead to 19-18. Trailing 23-20 late, the Lions closed out the set on a 5-0 run to earn the set three win, 25-23. 

The Lions carried that momentum into set four. The Lions jumped out to an early 3-1 lead. The Eagles responded to get within one, 4-3 but the Lions continued on a 10-1 run, including service aces by Nieves and Van der Wal and kills by Oliwer Wrobel, Feeney, and Michael to give the Lions a 14-4 lead. Kills by Nieves and Feeney would push the Lions lead to 17-10 late in the set, and the home team would close out set four on a 8-4 run to take the set 25-14 and earn the 3-1 win. 
Overall, the Lions had 53 kills, 5 aces, 7 blocks, 44 assists and 47 digs. 

Aidan Feeney led the team in kills with 20, with Carlos Guerrero adding 10 on the night. Lucas Nieves had 3 aces in the game, with Thijs Van der Wal contributing 2. Carlos Guerrero and Andrew Michael led the team in blocks with 3 a piece, while Oliwer Wrobel added 38 assists and 12 digs. Josh Staehler led the team in digs with 15. 

Next up, the Lions will travel to Tigerville, SC on Saturday at 2PM to take on North Greenville in conference action. 

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