Newberry, S.C. – Southern Wesleyan rises above Newberry in tough match-up in a 3-2 final.

The Warriors posted 61 kills in the five set match against the Newberry Wolves.  Paige O'Connor led the Warriors with 18 kills in the debate, with Olivia Johnson (15) and Shelby Sheets (14) following close behind her.  Annika Jones led the team with 49 assists in the match.  Senior Shelby Sheets led the team with two service aces.  The Warriors posted 122 digs in the victory, with Katie Anderson leading the team with 33 digs, followed by Anna Hughey with 24 and Annika Jones with 22.  Southern Wesleyan posted 21 blocks, with freshman Liz Kuntz and senior Paige O'Connor leading the team with six each.

Game Vitals

Set One Final: Newberry 26, Southern Wesleyan 24

Set Two Final: Southern Wesleyan 27, Newberry 25

Set Three Final: Newberry 25, Southern Wesleyan 20

Set Four Final: Southern Wesleyan 25, Newberry 21

Set Five Final: Southern Wesleyan 15, Newberry 11

Records: Southern Wesleyan (2-1), Newberry (2-1)

Coach Reininga says…

"I'm so proud of the team!  They battled together and played for each other against a very good Newberry squad.  Looking forward to coming back strong this evening."

How It Happened

Set One

Southern Wesleyan struck first in the first set of the day on a kill by freshman Olivia Johnson, however the Wolves countered on a kill by Sidra Triplett to tie the set.  The Warriors fought head taking a 3-2 lead on a kill by junior Annika Jones.  Attack errors by Newberry allowed the Warriors to lengthen their lead to 6-4 and then a kill by Shelby Sheets allowed the Warriors to put another point on the board.  However, the Newberry Wolves fought back to tie the set 7-7.  Kills by Olivia Johnson allowed the Warriors to take an 11-10 point lead.  Despite Southern Wesleyan's early lead, Newberry surged ahead on back-to-back kills by Alexis Bryant to take an 18-13 point lead over SWU.  The Warriors fought back, tying the match at 24, but they could not hold on as Newberry took the first set 26-24.

Set Two

The Newberry Wolves took an early lead in the second set of the afternoon with kills by Maggie Marsh to bring the set to 3-0.  However, kills by Olivia Johnson, Shelby Sheets and Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to surge to a 7-4 lead over Newberry.  The Wolves would not go down without a fight, scoring nine points quickly to take a 13-9 point lead over the Warriors.  Kills by Anna Hughey and Annika Jones jump started the Warriors offense to propel them back to tie the set 13-13.  An attack error by the Wolves gave the Warriors a 20-19 point advantage and then kills by Paige O'Connor allow the Warriors to take the lead to 24-22.  Newberry rallied back to tie the set at 25 and force it into extras, and a kill by senior Kendall Vallancourt gave the Warriors a second set victory.

Set Three

The Warriors attacked first to take an early 4-2 lead over the Wolves in third set of the afternoon.  Kills by senior Paige O'Connor allowed the Warriors to lengthen their lead to 9-4.  Newberry put up a fight, coming within one point of the Southern Wesleyan several times, but each time the Warriors pulled back into the lead.  Freshman Liz Kuntz's kill gave the Warriors a 15-13 point lead.  The Wolves fought back, scoring seven points quickly to take a 20-18 point lead.  Southern Wesleyan could not stop the Newberry surge as the Wolves took the third set 25-20.

Set Four

Southern Wesleyan took a quick lead in the fourth set, but Newberry countered to tie the set 2-2.  The lead went back and forth with the Wolves and Warriors trading lead until the set was tied at eleven.  Attack errors by the Wolves gave the Warriors a 13-12 point lead.  They took their lead to 15-12 on kills by Paige O'Connor.  Southern Wesleyan's lead increased to five points after kills by Olivia Johnson and Kendall Vallancourt brought the score to 20-15.  Newberry would not recover from the Warriors lead in the fourth set as Southern Wesleyan won 25-21.

Set Five

In the fifth and final set of the match, the Warriors took a 4-0 lead on attack errors by the Wolves and a kill by senior Shelby Sheets.  The Wolves rallied to tie the set 4-4 and then pulled ahead on a kill by Vanessa Blas.  However their lead was short lived as a kill by senior Paige O'Connor gave the Warriors a 9-8 lead.  They increased their lead to 13-11 on a kill by freshman Olivia Johnson, and then another kill by the freshman gave the Warriors a 15-11 victory in the final set of the match to give Southern Wesleyan a 3-2 victory.

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will continue in the Newberry Volleyball Invitational at 7 p.m. to take on the Coker College Cobras in their last match-up of the tournament.  The Warriors will then travel to Shorter on September 6.