NEWBERRY, SC – The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball team traveled to Newberry, SC tonight to face the Newberry College Wolves in non-conference action. The Lions jumped out to an early lead, taking the first set 25-23. The Lions carried their momentum into the second set, needing extra points to earn the 31-29 set two win. The Wolves cut the deficit to 2-1, by taking set three, 25-23 but the Lions closed out the game strong to win set four, 25-17. With the win, the Lions improve to 1-3. 

The teams traded points and the lead to open up the first set. The Wolves took an early 3-1 lead, but the Lions responded with a 4-1 run made up of kills by Aidan Feeney, Robert Hege and Greg Bodus to tie things at 4-4. The Lions took a 10-7 lead on back-to-back kills from Feeney and Matthieu Bataille, but the Wolves answered to pull within a point midway through the set, 14-13. Kills from Cumming and Thijs Van der Wahl pushed the Lions lead to 19-16 late in the set. Although the Wolves tied things late at 22-22, the Lions closed the set strong to earn the 25-23 win. 

Set two was as competitive as the first. The Lions took an early 7-1 lead on back-to-back service aces by Feeney, but the Wolves answered to cut the Lions lead to 11-8. Kills from Bataille and Cumming, along with a service error by Newberry put the Lions up 15-13 midway through the set, however the Wolves tied the set at 17-17 late. The two teams traded points and the lead the rest of the way. With Newberry up 24-22, the Lions scored the next two points on a service error by the Wolves and a kill from Bodus to tie the set at 24. With the set tied at 29, the Lions closed the set on back-to-back kills from Feeney and Van der Wahl to earn the 31-29 set two win. 

 The Wolves rebounded in set three. The Lions took an early 7-5 lead on a service error, but the Wolves tied the set at 7-7. The teams traded points and the lead until late in the set with Feeney, Bataille, and Van der Wal making key plays for the Lions. With the Lions up 23-21 late in the set, the Wolves scored the final four points to earn the set three win, 25-23. 

Set four saw the Wolves take an early 5-3 lead, but the Lions responded on kills by Van der Wal, Feeney, Bataille and Cumming to take the 8-7 lead. The Lions pushed their lead to 14-9 midway through the set on a service ace by Bataille and continued on a run to make it 17-11 late. Although the Wolves made a run late, the Lions closed out the set on kills by Van der Wal to earn win set four, 25-17 and the game 3-1. 

Overall, the Lions had 62 kills, 55 assists, 4 aces, 10 blocks and 59 digs. 

Thijs Van der Wal led the way with 17 kills on the night, with Aidan Feeney (13), Matthieu Bataille (12) and Elek Cumming (11) ending the night in double figures. 
Greg Bodus led the team in assists with 48, while Feeney added 2 aces on the night. Matthieu Bataille picked up 3 blocks on the night, and Elek Cumming contributed 18 digs, with Josh Staehler adding 13. 

Next up, the Lions will travel to Miami, FL to face Barry University on February 6 at 8PM. 

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