NEWBERRY – The Newberry College Wolves picked up a decisive 3-0 victory over the Queens Royals on senior night in Eleazer Arena. The nine seniors, Holly Brisson, Brittany Tolbert, Jessica King, Wendy Davis, Carolann Warren, Lauren Prachar, Elayni Stokes, Amanda Soper and Madison Schultz were all honored prior to the start of the match.

Newberry mauled the Royals in every category across the board, totaling 36 kills, a .270 hitting percentage, 30 assists, 47 digs, 10 team blocks and eight service aces. There were only 14 tie scores and six lead changes throughout the entire match.

Newberry came out to a blazing start, taking a 25-18 decision in the first set. After only being up 11-10, the Wolves put up 14 points while only allowing the Royals to produce eight. Newberry hit a blistering .385 in the frame, while holding Queens to hit .000.

In the second stanza Newberry was up 10-9, but used an eight point run to push the score to 18-10. That would be all the help the Wolves would need, as they took the set 25-18. The Wolves only needed eight kills to finish out the frame while dominating the Queens hitters, holding them to a -0.067 hitting percentage.

The Royals did not go away, but the Wolves were able to stave off disaster in set number three. After facing a 22-20 deficit, Newberry picked up four straight points to go to match point. Queens picked up a kill to push the score to 24-23. However, a Royals’ service error wrapped up the win for Newberry.

Sophomore Logan Hayward led the Wolves with 10 kills. Brisson put away eight while Soper tacked on six more. King totaled four kills while Prachar added four and 10 digs. Stokes paced the defensive effort with 16 digs, while sophomore Ashley Minor led all players with four service aces.

Coach Todd Hay is proud of this senior group. ”This is a great win for the girls,” said Coach Hay. “Congratulations are in order for this group of seniors, they have set high standards for this program.” This senior class has totaled 65 wins in their four years, that’s more than any other senior class in over two decades. They also picked up the first NCAA tournament appearance in Newberry College volleyball history and the first ever NCAA tournament win for Division II schools in the state of South Carolina.

Coach Hay also commented on the significance of the win tonight. “These last five games are critical in the South Atlantic Conference standings, it’s like we are already in the playoffs but are still fighting for the final seeding.” The Wolves currently sit in seventh place in the conference standings, just ahead of Mars Hill because of their higher overall winning percentage.

Newberry plays host to Catawba College tomorrow at 2 pm in Eleazer Arena.