NEWBERRY – The Newberry Wolves just couldn’t hold on, as they let a 2-1 lead over the Mars Hill Lions slip through their fingertips. Errors beleaguered the Wolves the in every set. Newberry had 11 service aces on the night and hit only .129 for the match. Set scores for the match were 25-16, 21-25, 26-24, 12-25 and 13-15. Newberry falls to 6-4 overall and 0-2 in SAC play, while the Lions move to 2-7 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Boxscore

Newberry was led offensively by senior Amanda Soper and junior Rachel Moran, who both had double-doubles on the evening. Soper put away 14 kills and recorded 23 digs, while Moran handed out 38 assists and picked up 11 digs of her own. Senior Elayni Stokes picked up a match-high 32 digs and sophomore Logan Hayward added 10 kills of her own.

Mars Hill was led by Rebecca Butler and Lauren Hochstetler, who both notched double-doubles on the evening. Butler tagged 11 kills and 18 digs, while Hochstetler amassed a match-high 15 kills, to go along with 12 digs. Mary Kate Griffin added additional 14 kills, while Christen Nicholson grabbed 31 digs.

The Wolves came out firing on all cylinders in the first set, jumping out to a 17-9 lead and scored eight of the last 15 points to take the set 25-16. Sophomore Madison Darby-McClure put down three errorless kills in four attempts and Stokes tallied 10 digs in the set to lead Newberry.

The second set was completely dominated by Mars Hill. The Lions jumped out to a 13-7 lead and the Wolves fought their way back to an 18-18 draw. Newberry then took over the lead 21-19, but the Lions scored six unanswered points to take the frame 25-21. Moran led the Wolves with four errorless kills and Hayward tacked on four of her own.  

The third set saw Mars Hill take an early four point lead, but Newberry came back to tie it up a 13-all. Newberry took a late 23-20 advantage, but Mars Hill took a four point run to up the score to 24-23. However, Newberry responded with three unanswered points to win the set 26-24. Soper posted six kills and Stokes had eight digs for the Wolves.

Mars Hill used multi-point runs to take off with the set. Newberry found themselves in the hole 16-9 before the Lions scored nine of the last 12 points to take the set 25-12. Mars Hill hit .419 as a team in the set, compared the Wolves .118.

Newberry found some life in the fifth set, shot out to an 8-2 lead. The Wolves could not tame the Lions, however, as they fought back to 11-11 draw. The Wolves scored the next two points to take the lead 13-11. After a Mars Hill timeout, an attack error and back-to-back service aces wrapped up the match. Stokes was all over the floor recording eight of the Wolves’ 12 digs.

Newberry is back in action tomorrow in Eleazer Arena at 2 p.m., as the Wolves take on the Tusculum College Pioneers as part of Family Day.