Franklin Springs, GA - The Emmanuel Women's Volleyball team hosted the Shorter University Hawks tonight in conference action. The Lions took the early lead, winning the first set 25-14. The home team carried the momentum into set two, earning the win 25-19 before closing out the game with a 25-20 win in set three. With the win, the Lions move to 20-6 on the season, 14-2 in conference play.
The Lions jumped out ahead early in set one, 5-2, with kills by
Natalie Wilson and a service ace by
Marusa Pesut. The Hawks cut the Lions lead to 10-9, but the Lions pulled ahead on kills by
Jada Porter,
Cailin Pritchard and an ace from
Lilli Redifer to make the score, 16-10, Lions. The Lions closed the set out strong on a 9-2 run to take the set, 25-14.
The home team took an early 5-1 lead in the 2
nd set on attack errors by the Hawks and an ace by
Isabel Miller. The Hawks responded well, taking the 6-5 lead but the Lions answered with three straight kills from Wilson, Pritchard and Porter to retake the lead, 9-6. The teams traded points, with Shorter leading 16-13 at the midway point. With the teams tied at 18-18, Emmanuel went on a 6-0 run made up of kills by Jackson and Pritchard, along with an ace by
Brooke Lee to finish the set, 25-19.
The third set saw the Lions take an early 7-3 lead on aces by Jackson and kills by Wilson and Lee. The Lions continued to push ahead, with a kill by
Brianna Bigelow making it 14-9 at the midway point. Kills from Porter and Pritchard along with errors by the Hawks put the Lions up 21-13 late and closed the set strong to earn the 25-20 win in set three and take the match 3-0.
Overall, the Lions had 38 kills, 11 aces, 5 blocks, 36 assists, and 66 digs.
Cailin Pritchard and
Natalie Wilson led the team with 10 kills each.
Ellie Jackson and
Lilli Redifer were strong from the service line with 3 aces apiece, while Pritchard was a force at the net with 3 blocks on the night.
Marusa Pesut dished out 29 assists on the night, with
Isabel Miller (19), Jackson (12), and Pesut (10) ending the night with double-digit kills.
Next up, the Lions will host Lees McRae College on Saturday at 2PM as a part of Emmanuel University's Homecoming Weekend festivities.
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
