NEWBERRY – The Newberry Wolves dropped a heartbreak to the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters in Eleazer Arena Friday night. Newberry took a hard fought first set before dropping sets two and three. They were able to stave off disaster in the fourth set to force a fifth and final set. However, the Railsplitters grabbed an early eight point lead and walked away with the match. The Wolves fall to 9-9 on the year and 3-7 in the South Atlantic Conference while Lincoln Memorial improves to 10-8 and 6-4 in conference play. 

Boxscore

The Wolves looked fantastic in the stat ledger, leading the Railsplitters in nearly every statistical category. Newberry totaled 63 kills on the evening, besting Lincoln Memorial by five. However, the Wolves committed 38 miscues which allowed only a .121 hitting percentage. Six service aces and 57 assissts were match highs posted by the Wolves. Newberry committed only three service errors on the night, giving the highest service ace to error ration of the season, an even 2:1.  

The Newberry defensive effort was remarkable, recording a season high 111 digs in the match. They also contributed ten block assists and one solo block for six total denies. However, Newberry was out-blocked for just the second time this season as the Railsplitters amassed 13 team blocks.

The Wolves were led offensively by Amanda Soper, Jessica King and Logan Hayward. Soper blasted a team high 12 kills while King and Hayward put away 11 apiece. Junior Rachel Moran paced the offense with a .444 hitting clip and handed out 34 assists. Seniors Elayni Stokes and Lauren Pracher were all over the floor defensively for Newberry, picking up half of the teams digs. Stokes posted a team high 29 while Pracher produced 26 and boasted a match high three aces.     

The Wolves return to action tomorrow when they host the Carson-Newman Eagles at 2 p.m. in Eleazer Arena.