Honolulu, HI – The Emmanuel Women's Volleyball team continued play today in the Hawai'i Challenge with a matchup against Western Oregon. The Lions jumped out ahead, taking the first two sets, 26-24, 25-22. The Wolves answered to take the third set, 25-18 but the Lions rallied to finish the game in four sets, with a 25-21 win in set four. With the win, the Lions move to 3-2 on the early season.
Attack errors were costly early for the Wolves, as the Lions jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Kills by
Cailin Pritchard,
Ellie Jackson and
Natalie Wilson pushed the Lions lead to 12-7, but the Wolves responded well to tie the set at 16-16 midway through the 1
st. A 4-0 scoring run gave Western Oregon the lead, 20-17, but kills from Jackson, Pritchard,
Brooke Lee and
Brianna Bigelow tied the set at 24 all. The Lions closed the set strong on a kill by Jackson to put the Wolves away in set one, 26-24.
The Wolves jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the 2
nd set. With the Wolves up 8-4, a 4-0 run by the Lions made up of kills by Wilson and
Marusa Pesut and services aces by Pesut knotted the set at 8-8. The Lions continued to pull ahead on another 4-0 run, with kills from Lee and Jackson making the score 12-9, Lions. Midway through the set, the Lions led 16-14 and a 3-0 run made it 19-15. Western Oregon responded with a 3-0 run of their own to pull within a point late, 23-22, but kills by
Jada Porter and Wilson closed the set to give the Lions the win in set two, 25-22.
The Wolves responded well in the 3
rd set. The teams traded points early, but Western Oregon pulled ahead on a 5-0 run to take a 14-7 lead. The Lions rallied late with several Lions getting involved, but the Wolves earned the set three win, 25-18.
In the 4
th set, the teams traded points and the lead early. With Western Oregon up 11-9, the Lions responded with a service ace by
Madelyn Banton and kills from Pritchard and Jackson to give the Lions a 13-11 lead. A 5-0 run by the Wolves gave Western Oregon a 20-17 lead late, but an ace by Porter and a kill by Pritchard tied the set at 20-20. The Lions finished the set on a 5-0 run with kills from Jackson and Pesut to earn Emmanuel the set five win, 25-21 and the win, 3-1.
Overall, the Lions had 53 kills, 6 aces, 10 blocks, 51 assists, and 56 digs.
Three Lions ended the night in double figure kills, with
Ellie Jackson leading the way a double double, 15 kills, 11 digs.
Cailin Pritchard (12) and
Natalie Wilson (10) closed out the top kill leaders.
Marusa Pesut led the Lions with 41 assists, while picking up 2 aces alongside
Madelyn Banton who also collected 2.
Brianna Bigelow and
Natalie Wilson each had 5 blocks, with
Isabel Miller ending the night with 17 digs.
The Lions will be back in action tonight with a matchup against University of Hawai'i Hilo at 10PM.
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
