Mars Hill sweeps season series with Newberry
The Mars Hill volleyball team (12-4, 6-2 SAC) downed Newberry (7-9, 2-7 SAC) in four sets on the road Thursday evening to sweep the season series and win their fifth straight.
NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Mars Hill volleyball team (12-4, 6-2 SAC) downed Newberry (7-9, 2-7 SAC) in four sets on the road Thursday evening to sweep the season series and win their fifth straight.
The Lions dropped the first set by a score of 25-20, but would reel off three straight sets including a dramatic 28-26 fourth set to secure the victory.
Newberry hit .316 in the opening set with Vanessa Blas leading the way with five kills. With the set tied at 19 apiece, the Wolves reeled off six of the last seven points to go up 1-0 over Mars Hill.
Mars Hill, led by Sally Anne Johnson's second straight five kill set, would tie the game taking the second set, 25-21. Both teams traded points early on in the frame, but at the 6-6 mark, Mars Hill would take the next four points to go up 10-6 and would never trail for the remainder of the set.
The Lions dominated the third set from the 7-7 point. With the set tied, Mars Hill took the next eight points to go up 15-7. Elizabeth Kaeser had two aces and Sarah Goddard had three kills in the run. A kill from Blas would end the run momentarily, but Mars Hill would take another five points in a row, four off of Newberry attack errors. The Lions would close out the frame with a score of 25-16.
Mars Hill would trail for the duration of the fourth set until late. With the set tied at 17-all, Newberry took the next four points to go up 21-17, however, coming back from a Mars Hill timeout, the Lions would take seven of the next nine points to earn a set point. The Wolves would battle back and continue to match the Lions until the contest was once again tied, 26-26. A kill from Kaeser and error by Newberry provided the necessary two points for the Lions to earn their fifth straight win.
Blas led all players with 14 kills and added 12 digs. Toni-Anne Whitlow, Angela Gore and Zoe Dinkins each had 10 kills. Olivia Kozemko had 28 assists and Kensley Jordan had a team-high 27 digs.
Johnson led all players, hitting .458 with a team-high 13 kills. Kaeser had 12 kills, 11 digs and five aces. Ully Martins and Goddard were tied with 17 digs each while Sara Pasour had a team-high 24 assists.
The Lions travel to Jefferson City on Saturday, October 6th to take on Carson-Newman for the first time in the 2018 season. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.