Franklin Springs, GA – Southern Wesleyan fell in the quarterfinals to the Emmanuel Lions on Tuesday evening.
The Warriors totaled 35 kills in the loss to the Lions with Briley Wolff leading the team with nine kills. She was closely followed by Kaylon Chapman with eight kills. Lily Clarkson led the team with 16 assists while Amiyah Spann followed with 14 assists. Faith Paxton and Spann each served up an ace.
Southern Wesleyan amassed 59 digs throughout the match. Senior libero Faith Paxton led the team with 16 digs. Behind her, Michaela Andress had 11 and Kaylon Chapman had nine. The Warriors had five blocks in the match. Briley Wolff had four blocks while both Chapman and Megan Gilliland had two.
Match Vitals
Set One: Emmanuel 25, Southern Wesleyan 21
Set Two: Emmanuel 25, Southern Wesleyan 20
Set Three: Emmaneul 25, Southern Wesleyan 19
Records: Southern Wesleyan (13-13 / CC 10-10) Emmanuel (26-6 / CC 18-2)
How It Happened
Set One
Emmanuel was first on the board as a kill by Ellie Jackson gave them the early lead. However, the Warriors were able to score seconds later on a service error by the Lions. Kaylon Chapman got the ball down for a kill to put the Warriors on top 3-2. Emmanuel blocked Chapman's next attack on the net to tie the set up once again. Lily Clarkson set the ball up to Briley Wolff who got it down past the Lions' defense to extend Southern Wesleyan's lead to two. Emmanuel fought back as Lilli Redifer served up an ace to tie the set and then Cailin Pritchard got the ball in for a kill. Ainsley Stovall got the ball past the Lions to keep the Warriors within one. Emmanuel went on the attack again, but Ellie Jackson's shot hit off the antenna to keep the Warriors within striking distance. A kill off Elise Fulgham's hands put the Warriors back within four. Natalie Wilson went on the attack, but Chapman and Wolff blocked her attack on the net. Megan Gilliland drilled the ball down for a kill to put Southern Wesleyan behind Emmanuel 17-14. Lily Clarkson dumped the ball over the net to surprise the Lions and cut their lead down to two once more. Southern Wesleyan fought on as Michaela Andress drilled the ball in for a kill, but Emmanuel battled on with a kill by Jackson. Another kill by Jackson allowed the Lions to claim set one in a 25-21 final.
Set Two
A service error by the Lions allowed the Warriors to claim the first point of the second set. Briley Wolff then got the ball down for a kill. Emmanuel answered with kills by Brianna Bigelow and Ellie Jackson to tie the set up at two. Kaylon Chapman flipped the ball over the net to keep Southern Wesleyan close to the Lions. The Warriors continued to fight back as Michaela Andress got the ball in for a kill. However, Jada Porter drilled the ball down to allow the Lions to regain a two-point lead. Natalie Wilson looked to extend the Lions' lead, but Kaylon Chapman and Briley Wolff blocked her attack on the net. Chapman sent a rocket over the net to put Southern Wesleyan behind Emmanuel 11-8. On the next sequence, Faith Paxton laid out to keep the ball in play and sent it up to Amiyah Spann. Spann quickly set the ball over to Kaylon Chapman who got the ball down for a kill. The Warriors pressed on as Sarah Mitchell got in back-to-back kills. Emmanuel went on the attack once again, but Megan Gilliland and Wollf were able to block Bigelow's attack. Natalie Wilson got the ball past the Warriors, but they answered right back with a kill by Wolff. Kaylon Chapman tipped the ball over the net for a kill that allowed the Warriors to tie the set up at twenty. Emmanuel pressed on as kills by Ellie Jackson and Jada Porter allowed them to claim the second set in a 25-20 final.
Set Three
Sarah Mitchell got the ball right down the line for a kill to give the Warriors the opening point of the third set. Another attack by Mitchell allowed the Warriors to extend their lead to 2-0. Emmanuel answered as Ellie Jackson got the ball in for a kill. The Lions looked to block Kaylon Chapman's attack on the net, but they could not prevent her attack from landing. Jada Porter sent the ball down the line for a kill, but the Warriors would not let up as Briley Wolff answered with a kill of her own. Chapman got in another kill. The Lions would not relent as Natalie Wilson and Jada Porter each got the ball down for kills. Sarah Mitchell collected the ball off a pass from Lily Clarkson and got the ball in for a kill. Emmanuel pushed on as a kill by Marusa Pesut extended the Lions lead to seven. Faith Paxton served up an ace to help the Warriors cut the Lions lead down to five. Ellie Moore laid down back-to-back kills to cut deeper into the Lions' lead. Ainsley Stovall got the ball down for a kill and then an attack error by Emmanuel allowed Southern Wesleyan to tie the set up at sixteen. The Lions regained the advantage with kills by Porter and Wilson. Michaela Andress and Briley Wolff denied Cailin Pritchard's next attack. Emmanuel pressed on to win the final set in a 25-19 final.
