MARS HILL, N.C. - For the past five matches the Newberry College has been searching for the offense that allowed them to win eight straight matches at the beginning of the 2010 season. That aspect of the game continued to elude them as the Wolves dropped a 25-18, 25-15, 25-16 decision to the Mars Hill Lions.

The Lions hit .307 compared to the .091 attack percentage that the Wolves put up. The Newberry attack was also stymied by 18 attack errors during the match.

The match against the Lions got started with the two teams trading points and the Wolves staying close to the Lions in the opening minutes. The scarlet and gray were tied on five occasions through the first 18 points in the set. With the score sitting at 9-9 the Lions caught fire and went on an 11-3 run to take control of the set. Newberry could not find the answers for a tough Lion defense and dropped the first set.

The Wolves responded quickly in the second set with Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) making a kill for the first point of the set. The squads would once again exchange blows with Newberry never relinquishing the lead. Nadia Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) recorded a service ace to give the Wolves a 10-9 lead, but things would go south from there for the visitors.

The Lions went on a 5-1 run with four kills and a Newberry attack error accounting for the points. Mars Hill kept their foot on the gas, and opened up a 23-15 lead. A Lion kill and an attack error from Newberry would put the Wolves in a 2-0 hole.

Newberry started the third set with a quick 3-0 run with a pair of kills from Kara Harris (Grandview, Texas) and an attack error from Mars Hill. Newberry's lead would disappear in a matter of moments though, as the Lions went on a 9-0 run consisting of six kills a pair of blocks and a Newberry attack error. The Wolves couldn't recover from the devastating run and went on to drop the third set and the match.

Parrish led the way with 10 kills and picked up five digs and a block solo.

Brianna Blakely (Houston, Texas) led the Wolves with 20 digs and Blair Browning (New Lexington, Ohio) paced the squad in assists with 27.

The Wolves return home for their final two matches of the regular season. The first is a matchup with South Atlantic Conference juggernaut Wingate on Friday (Nov. 5). The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.