ANDERSON, S.C. - The Newberry College volleyball team opened up the season with a pair of hard-fought setbacks to Southern Wesleyan and North Greenville today.

The first match against the Warriors started off on a promising note, as the scarlet and gray managed to jump out to an early 3-0 lead courtesy of three straight attack errors by SWU. Their lead bulged to as many as five points before the Warriors found their offensive groove. The Wolves held a 21-17 lead but lost their grip on the first game by way of a bevy of attack errors. Newberry managed to pull within one down the stretch, but could not finish and the scarlet and gray found themselves in a 1-0 hole.

Over the next two sets, the Wolves buckled down and limited the Warriors to 19 and 16 points respectively to take a 2-1 lead.

The fourth game was a different story though, as the Wolves never led and allowed the Warriors to tie up the match at 2-all.

“We just have a lot of new players and it's going to take a while for us to put it all together,” said third-year head coach David Nicholson. “We're going to have to be patient. I do believe that we have a lot of talent. I'm confident that we will get things going sometime soon.”

The fifth and deciding set was controlled by the Wolves early on, but a 7-1 run at the end allowed Southern Wesleyan to come away with the win.

The Wolves were paced by junior Sarah Scott (Redding, Calif.), who accumulated 13 kills, six digs and a pair of block assists. Freshman Anne Staudinger (Fort Wayne, Ind.) was another bright spot for the Wolves with her 12 kills, three digs and a block assist.

Newberry vs. Southern Wesleyan box score

Looking for the split on the day, Newberry faced off against North Greenville and had a difficult time getting going for the second time.

The Crusaders allowed Newberry to lead only once as they took the first set 25-20. The second set was controlled by the Wolves and Nadia Andrade was a big part of the reason why. The senior from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, came out with a strong service game, racking up three straight service aces spotting the Wolves a 10-2 advantage to open the set. North Greenville never could find its rhythm and the Wolves evened things up at one set each.

The third set went into extra points in the closing minutes. With a 24-21 lead, the Wolves could not hold off a charging Crusader squad looking to win their first match of the day as well. The North Greenville offense made the plays that the Wolves couldn't and came away with a 2-1 lead thanks to a 28-26 mark.

The scarlet and gray evened up the match again with a 25-17 game four victory, but things fell apart for them again in the deciding fifth set. The Wolves opened up with a 3-0 lead, but four attack errors over the next eight points would spell doom for Newberry. The offense could not keep up with that of the Crusaders, and a 10-15 setback made the Wolves 0-2 on the day.

Freshman Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) led the way with 12 kills and 16 digs to complete the double-double. Scott and Staudinger chipped in 15 and 13 kills respectively for the Wolves.

Newberry vs. North Greenville box score

Newberry will look to earn its first and second wins of the season tomorrow as the Wolves face their final two opponents in the Anderson Tournament. Match time against Virginia State is slated for 9 a.m., while the second match of the day against Augusta State will take place at 1 p.m.