ANDERSON, S.C. - After dropping a pair of close matches to open up the 2010 season, the Newberry College volleyball team came out on day two of the Anderson Tournament looking to find their winning edge.

Mission accomplished.

The Wolves took on Virginia State for their first match of the day and promptly shut down the Trojans in every aspect of the match. During the first set, the Wolves made use of a 9-1 run to put things out of reach for the Trojans. The Wolves never trailed and took set one by a score of 25-13.

The second and third games further displayed the prowess and the consistency that was lacking at times during the previous day. The scarlet and gray opened up game two with a 17-2 spurt that featured two service aces by Leah Nye (Birmingham, Ala.) and another trio of them from the hand of Lindsey Hollingsworth (Charleston, S.C.). Myriad errors stymied the Trojans as they lost all control of the game, giving Newberry a 2-0 edge with a score of 25-6.

The third and deciding set was very much similar to the game two walloping handed out by the Wolves. Nye instigated a 9-1 run with three more service aces to essentially put the match out of reach early for Virginia State. The Wolves picked up the first win for any Newberry athletic team of the fall sports season with a score of 25-9.

The Wolves had a sensational .213 attack percentage and Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) led the way with 10 kills and an assist. The squad tallied 14 service aces during the sub-one hour match. Virgnia State finished with a forgettable hitting percentage of -.224.

Newberry vs. Virginia State box score

Mere hours later, Newberry would look to earn the split for the tournament when they met up with Augusta State. The Jaguars were looking to recover from a loss earlier in the day, but Newberry refused to let them get back on the winning track.

In a back-and-forth set one, Newberry and Augusta State entered the closing minutes of the match in a 20-20 deadlock. Sarah Scott (Redding, Calif.) stepped up in a big way, accumulating four of her match high 15 kills to tame the cats 25-22.

Set two had the Wolves build up a lead of five points on two occasions before ASU closed the margin and eventually overtook the Wolves by a score of 24-20. In a genuine display of determination the Wolves clawed their way back to the 24-point mark to even things up.

“They owed themselves one of those because we let one of those get way yesterday,” said third-year head coach David Nicholson. “We played better and we are starting to come together. The consistency was there today.”

The teams traded points, and remained tied at 26-all before kills by Nye and Parrish gave Newberry the 2-0 lead.

Up by a score of 20-15 in the third set, the Jaguars applied serious pressure yet again, moving ahead of the Wolves with six straight points. Anne Staudinger (Fort Wayne, Ind.) made a pair of big kills down the stretch to push the Wolves past the Jaguars 25-22.

Brianna Blakely (Houston, Texas) appeared comfortable at the setter position, racking up 41 assists to go along with seven digs.

Newberry vs. Augusta State box score

Tuesday will mark the beginning of South Atlantic Conference play when the Wolves return to the friendly confines of Eleazer Arena and welcome conference newcomer Anderson to Newberry. Match time on September 7 is set for 7 p.m.