Franklin Springs, Ga – The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball team hosted Barton College tonight in conference action. The Lions got off to a hot start, earning the 26-24 win in set one. The Lions carried their momentum into the second set, winning 25-18 before closing out the game with a win in set three, 25-20. With the win, the Lions improve to 4-7 on the season, 1-2 in conference action.

Aidan Feeney started off strong for the Lions, giving the Lions an early 4-2 lead with three kills. Back-to-back kills by Thijs Van der Wal made it 9-7 Lions, but the Bulldogs responded well to tie the set and take the lead, 12-11. The Lions answered to retake the lead, 15-13 and the teams traded points and the lead until late. Tied at 24-24, kills by Feeney and Elek Cumming closed the set out for the Lions to give Emmanuel the set one win, 26-24.

In set two, the Lions jumped out to an early 4-2 lead on kills from Cumming and Bryan Povea. A kill from Van der Wal and an ace by Cumming made it 6-4 Lions early, but the Bulldogs answered to tie the set at 6-6. A 4-0 scoring run by the Lions made up of an ace from Matthieu Bataille and a kill from Feeney pushed the Lions ahead, 13-8. Late in the set, the Lions led 22-15 with kills by Van der Wal, Povea, Cumming and Greg Bodus. The Lions closed out the set strong with kills by Povea and Feeney to give Emmanuel the 25-18 set two win.

The Lions took an early 4-1 lead in the third set on kills by Bodus and Cumming. The Bulldogs responded to take the 5-4 lead, but the Lions answered on kills by Cumming, Feeney and Bataille to take the 9-6 lead. Midway through the set, an ace from Povea pushed the Lions lead to 14-11. A 4-0 run by the Lions made up of kills by Bodus and Feeney put the Lions up 21-15 late, and a kill and ace by Cumming pushed the lead to 23-16. With the Lions up 24-17, the Bulldogs scored the next three points to cut the Lios lead to 24-20, but a service error by Barton gave the Lions the set three win, 25-20 and the sweep, 3-0! 

Overall, the Lions had 40 kills, 5 aces, 2 blocks, 38 assists, and 26 digs.

Aidan Feeney led the Lions with 15 kills, with Elek Cumming adding 9. 

Cumming led the team in aces with 2, while Bryan Povea, Greg Bodus, and Elek Cumming picked up a block apiece. Bodus led the team in assists with 31 on the night, with Bodus and Feeney adding 6 digs apiece.

Next up, the Lions will face the University of Mount Olive on Sunday at 12PM.
 
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.