NEWBERRY, S.C. - Now midway through the 2009 campaign, the Newberry College volleyball team (10-7, 2-2 SAC) finally got to enjoy the comfort of playing at home. The scarlet and gray wasted no time in giving their fans something to cheer about, winning sets by scores of 25-23, 25-16, and 26-24 to sweep Mars Hill (7-6, 1-4 SAC).

The first set indicated that the match would be closely fought. The teams exchanged points steadily down the stretch with Newberry clinging to marginal lead. A four-point run by Mars Hill gave the Lions an opportunity to tie the score, but kills by Fernanda Frey (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Lorena Maia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) on consecutive points put Newberry in position to win the set.

Newberry rolled their success over into the second set with a 10-4 opening run. Mars Hill battled back into it, but surrendered a six-point run to Newberry and the service of Kember Lichtie (Amarillo, Texas). Lichtie's service run put the set out of reach, and eventually a block by Maia and Blair Browning (New Lexington, Ohio) sealed the deal.

Mars Hill did not let Newberry's two-set lead deter them and demonstrated that Newberry would still have to earn the victory. With the third set tied for the seventh time at 10-10, Mars Hill put together a scoring run to build a late lead. The Lions produced multiple set-point opportunities with a 24-22 lead and a fourth set seemed inevitable. Newberry responded with a four-point run of their own, capped off by a kill by Niki Hroblak (Lake Wylie, S.C.) to end the match.

Frey shined for Newberry yet again, producing another double-double. She led the team in kills with 11 and added 12 digs. Leah Nye (Hoover, Ala.) recorded 6 kills on only 10 attempts. Browning led the team in assists with 31.

On the defensive side, Newberry had two other players in addition to Frey with double-digit digs. Lichtie was the leader with 15 and Briana Blakely (Houston, Texas) had 10. Niki Hroblak had 5 total blocks, more than any player on either team.

Newberry plays another SAC match at home on Saturday. The scarlet and gray will play host to Tusculum in Eleazer Arena at 2 p.m.