Franklin Springs, GA – The Emmanuel Women's Volleyball team hosted Southern Wesleyan University tonight in conference action. Tonight, we honored a special group of seniors, as
Ellie Jackson,
Cailin Pritchard and
Brianna Bigelow played their final conference match in the Lion's Den. The Lions looked sharp in the first set, downing the Warriors 25-11, before SWU responded with a 25-23 win in set two. The Lions took control in set three, winning 25-20 before taking the final set, 27-25 to earn the 3-1 win. With the win, the Lions move to 23-6 on the season, 17-2 in conference play.
Southern Wesleyan took an early 5-2 lead in the first set, but the Lions answered with kills by
Natalie Wilson,
Jada Porter, and
Cailin Pritchard to put the Lions ahead, 10-7. An ace from
Lilli Redifer and a kill from
Marusa Pesut made it 16-7, Lions midway through the set. Attack errors from the Warriors and kills by Porter,
Ellie Jackson, and
Morgan Broome closed out the set with the Lions winning 25-11.
The Lions carried their momentum into the second set, taking an early 7-2 lead on kills by Jackson and
Brianna Bigelow and an ace by Pesut. An ace by Redifer and kills by Porter pushed the Lions lead to 15-6 midway through the set, but the Warriors closed the gap late, tying the set at 21. The Warriors closed the set strong to take the win, 25-23.
In the third set, the teams traded points until midway through the set. With the teams tied at 15-15, the Lions took control on kills by Pritchard, Porter, and an ace by Redifer to pull ahead 19-15. Jackson and Pesut closed the set strong to take the win, 25-20.
In the fourth set, the Lions jumped out to a 6-2 lead, with
Isabel Miller collecting a service ace. The Warriors responded, tying the set at 6-6 and the teams traded points until kills by Pritchard and Jackson pushed the Lions ahead 12-8. With the Lions up 15-12 midway through the set, the Warriors pushed ahead on a 5-0 run to go up 18-16. The teams traded points until late, with the Warriors taking the late lead, 22-20. The Lions tied things up on a kill by Jackson and Jackson alongside Porter closed the set strong to earn the set four win, 27-25 and take the game, 3-1.
Overall, the Lions had 61 kills, 60 assists, 10 aces, 9 blocks and 86 digs.
Ellie Jackson led the Lions with a double-double of 21 kills, 16 digs.
Marusa Pesut had another strong day with 53 assists, 13 digs, and 2 blocks.
Cailin Pritchard and
Brianna Bigelow also added 2 blocks each.
Lilli Redifer was on fire from the service line with 5 aces, while
Isabel Miller picked up 27 digs to lead the Lions.
Next up, the Lions will travel to Young Harris, Ga to face the Young Harris College Mountain Lions on Tuesday at 6PM.
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
