Banner Elk, NC – The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball team traveled to Banner Elk, NC tonight to face Lees McRae College in conference action. The Bobcats took an early lead, earning the 25-16 win in set one. Lees McRae carried their momentum into set two, earning the 25-12 win, before closing out the game winning set three, 25-21.
The Bobcats took an early lead in the first set, 5-0. The Lions responded with kills by
Aidan Feeney and
Luke Wilson, combined with attack errors by the Bobcats to cut the lead to 9-5. Kills from
Thijs Van der Wal cut the Bobcats lead to 12-9 midway through the set but Lees McRae responded with a 4-0 scoring run to go up 16-9. Late in the set, the Bobcats lead 20-13 and closed the set strong to earn the 25-16 win.
In the second set, the Bobcats took a 9-0 lead. Kills by Van der Wal and Wilson cut the Bobcats lead to 12-2 but Lees McRae responded to push their lead to 17-4 and would close the set strong to earn the set two win, 25-12.
The third set saw the Lions take an early 5-1 lead on errors by the Bobcats and an ace from Feeney. A kill by Van der Wal pushed the Lions lead to 6-2, but Lees McRae responded to tie the set up 7-7. The Lions retook the lead, with back-to-back kills from Feeney putting the Lions up 13-10. The Bobcats closed the gap, tying the set at 13-13 and taking the lead 15-13. A kill from
Caleb Mears put the Lions within one, 15-14 and the teams traded points and the lead until late in the set. The Bobcats took a 20-19 lead on a ball-handling error, and the home team closed the set strong to take the 25-21 win in set three and the 3-0 win.
Overall, the Lions had 20 kills, 18 assists, an ace, 6 blocks and 13 digs.
Thijs Van der Wal and
Aidan Feeney led the team with 5 kills apiece.
Greg Bodus collected 14 assists and 1.5 blocks on the night, with Feeney adding the team's only ace. Bodus led the team with 6 digs.
Next up, the Lions will travel to Bristol, TN to face King University tomorrow at 2PM.
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
