Volleyball Completes Season Sweep of Newberry

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill volleyball team picked up their fourth sweep of the season Friday night in Stanford Arena, defeating Newberry 3-0 in South Atlantic Conference action. The Lions won by scores of 27-25, 25-12 and 25-18 to improve their record to 7-13 overall and 6-7 in league play. Newbery dropped to 10-11 overall and 4-9 in the conference. The Lions defeated Newberry on the road on September 19, topping the Wolves 3-2.

Rebecca Butler and Mary Kate Griffin each had 13 kills, with Lauren Hochstetler adding eight kills. Butler had three aces, with Griffin and Christen Nicholson each having an ace. Hochstetler and Nicholson led the Lion defense with 14 digs each, followed by eight from Hochstetler and seven from Andie Russell.

Newberry was led by Logan Hayward's seven kills, with Wendy Davis and Amanda Soper each recording six kills. Elayni Stokes had a match-high 19 digs, with Lauren Prachar contributing 17 digs.

A tightly contested first set featured 10 ties and five lead changes with neither team enjoying more than a three point lead. The Lions held a 23-20 lead before a pair of kills and an attack error evened the set. The teams traded the next two points before a Lion error gave Newberry a 25-24 lead. Butler tied the set at 25 on a kill, with two Newberry errors giving the Lions a 27-25 victory.

The Lions raced out to a 15-5 lead in the second set before the Wolves pulled to within seven points, 16-9. Mars Hill answered with four straight points and coasted to the 25-12 win. With the scored tied at three in the third set, Newberry went on a 7-3 run for a 10-6 advantage. Mars Hill scored six of the next eight points to tie the set at 12.  Leading by one with the score at 17-16, Mars Hill finished the match on an 8-2 run for a 25-18 win and the season sweep of the Wolves.

Mars Hill returns to action tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. against Anderson.