Wilson, NC – The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball team traveled to Wilson, NC to face Barton College in conference action. The Lions took the first set, 25-22, but the Bulldogs responded well to earn the set two win, 25-20. The Lions rallied to win set three, 25-21 but the Bulldogs closed the game strong to win the final two sets, 25-22, 15-10.
The Lions jumped out to an early lead in set one behind key plays by
Thijs Van der Wal,
Matthieu Bataille, and
Elek Cumming to make it 6-4 Lions. Errors by the Bulldogs and kills by Van der Wal pushed the Lions lead to 16-14 midway through the set. Kills by
Aidan Feeney and errors by the Bulldogs helped the Lions close the set strong to earn the win, 25-20.
The Lions carried the momentum into set two, taking an early 4-1 lead on kills by Van der Wal and
Luke Wilson. The Bulldogs responded well to take the lead, 11-7. Kills by Wilson, Cumming and Feeney cut the Bulldogs lead to 17-15 but Barton responded to push ahead, 22-17. The Lions fell in set two, 25-20.
The Lions jumped ahead 4-1 early in the third set, but Barton answered to tie the set at 6-6. Kills by Cumming and Wilson, along with errors by the Bulldogs pushed the Lions lead to 14-8 midway through the set. Late in the set, the Lions lead 17-9 but Barton used a 4-0 scoring run to cut the Lions lead to 18-14. With the Lions up 23-20 late, a kill by
Greg Bodus and an attack error by the Bulldogs closed the set with the Lions taking the win, 25-21.
The Lions took the lead in set four, 6-1 on kills by Feeney and Wilson. The Bulldogs rallied to tie the set at 12-12. The two teams traded points and the lead, with Van der Wal, Feeney and Wilson making big plays for the Lions. With the score tied 22-22 late in the set, Barton scored the final three points to take the set four win, 25-22.
In set five, the Bulldogs took the early 7-4 lead. A kill by Bodus and an error by the Bulldogs cut the Lions deficit to 8-6, but the Bulldogs answered with a 4-0 run to go up 12-6. Kills by Feeney and Cumming kept the Lions close, but the Bulldogs closed the set strong to earn the set five win, 15-10 and the game, 3-2.
Overall, the Lions had 45 kills, 5 aces, 8 blocks, 40 assists, and 44 digs.
Aidan Feeney led the way for the Lions with 17 kills, with
Thijs Van der Wal ending the night with 9.
Elek Cumming led the team in aces with 2, with
Luke Wilson collecting 5 blocks on the night.
Greg Bodus led the team in assists with 34, with
Josh Staehler adding 13 digs, with
Aidan Feeney adding 11.
Next up, the Lions will travel to Mount Olive, NC to face the University of Mount Olive Trojans tomorrow at 2PM.
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
