FLORENCE - The Newberry Wolves took an early lead and fought off a strong charge from the USC Aiken Pacers on the way to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 26-28, 25-22) victory in the Francis Marion Invitational on Friday night.

Newberry (2-0) was led by a 19-kill, 11-dig double-double from Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) and 17 kills from Logan Hayward (Sylvania, Ohio). Setter Rachel Moran (Cypress, Texas) passed out 48 assists to go with seven digs and four kills. Elayni Stokes (Houston, Texas) had 20 digs and a pair of service aces.

The Wolves seemed to be in cruise control during the first two sets hitting .276 in the opening set and a sparkling .481 with only two errors in the second set. Newberry led by a 16-8 count in the third set before the Pacers (1-1) began their fight back. After facing that 8-point deficit, USCA scored 14 of the next 20 points to tie the set at 22-all. Newberry fought off set point once and then took a one-point lead at 25-24, but USCA avoided the closeout at match point. The Pacers scored four of the set's final five points to force a fourth set.

The third set win seemed to give USC Aiken momentum, as the Pacers would push out to an 18-12 lead in the fourth set. Newberry would respond well, cutting that deficit to 22-18. With USC Aiken still holding the edge, Newberry turned on the offensive heat, scoring the match's final seven points to win the set 25-22. Jessica King (Los Angeles, Calif.) was instrumental in the closeout, recording a block and kills on the final two points.

"When they came back on us in the third set, that was disappointing," head coach Todd Hay said. "We had good leads late and it's tough to lose a set like that. We were down by six with Aiken having a chance to force a fifth set and we got the points we needed. We've done a drill in practice that puts the pressure on the team receiving serve, and it paid off tonight. We made some minor adjustments in our timeouts and we stepped up the intensity on the defensive side, which flipped the match in our favor.

"The intensity was good tonight and it's a good thing for us to be tested early. We talked before the match that this and the Francis Marion match are matches that will help determine the regional rankings later on and will follow you the rest of the season. It's only match two of the season, but it's a big win for this season already."

The Wolves close out the FMU Invitational with two matches Saturday. Newberry plays host Francis Marion at 11 a.m. and Mount Olive at 7 p.m. Live stats for both matches will be available at http://fmustats.fmarion.edu.