FRANKLIN SPRINGS, GA – The Emmanuel Women's Volleyball team hosted Young Harris College tonight in conference action. The match was competitive from the start, with the Mountain Lions taking the first two sets, 25-22, 25-23. The Lions answered to win the next two sets, 25-13, 25-13 and closed the door on the Mountain Lions in set five, 15-5 to take the game, 3-2. With the win, the Lions improve to 6-5 on the season, 3-1 in conference action.
The Lions jumped out to an early 5-3 lead in the first set, behind back-to-back aces from
Paige Hill and kills by
Ellie Jackson and
Natalie Wilson. The Mountain Lions responded with a 5-0 run to take the 8-5 lead. The Lions answered to tie the set at 11 and continued a 6-0 run made up of two more aces from Hill and kills from Jackson and
Jada Porter to give the Lions the 17-11 lead. Late in the set with the Lions up 22-19, the Mountain Lions rallied to score the final six points to take the first set, 25-22.
The teams traded points and the lead early in the 2
nd set, with
Brianna Bigelow and
Marusa Pesut collecting kills to make it 8-7, Lions. In the set, the Lions had 13 kills, with
Natalie Wilson leading the way with 4. The set remained close until late when the Mountain Lions earned the win on a service error, 25-23.
The Lions answered back in set 3, jumping out to a 6-2 lead on service aces from Hill, Pesut, and
Madelyn Banton. The Lions pulled ahead on kills by Jackson, Wilson, Hill and Pritchard to make the score, 12-8. A 5-1 run by Emmanuel gave the Lions the 18-10 lead and they closed the set strong to earn the 25-13 win
The Lions carried the momentum into set 4 where they picked up a match high 16 kills with Jackson, Hill, and Wilson making key plays. After the Mountain Lions took an early 5-4 lead, the Lions used a 7-0 run to jump ahead 11-5. A kill from Hill doubled the score, 14-7 Lions midway through the set. Late in the set, a kill from
Brianna Bigelow made it 20-11, Lions and the home team cruised to a 25-13 set four win to force a 5
th set.
In the 5
th set, the Lions jumped ahead 5-2 on points from Jackson and Pritchard. A 4-1 scoring run from the Lions pushed their lead to 9-4 and the Lions closed the set on a 6-0 run made up of kills by Hill and an ace from
Lilli Redifer to give the Lions the set, 15-5 and the reverse sweep, 3-2!
Overall, the Lions had 61 kills, 18 aces, 6 blocks, 54 assists, and 50 digs.
Four Lions ended the night in double figures in kills, with
Ellie Jackson leading the way with 14.
Natalie Wilson (13),
Paige Hill (11) and
Cailin Pritchard (11) closed out the top scorers.
Freshman,
Paige Hill added 8 aces and 10 digs on the night.
Cailin Pritchard led the Lions with 4 blocks on the night, with
Marusa Pesut adding 48 assists.
Isabel Miller led the Lions with 12 digs, with
Ellie Jackson and Hill adding 10 each, to finish the night with double-doubles.
Next up, the Lions will hit the road for a matchup at Francis Marion University on Friday at 7PM.
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
