St. Augustine, Fla: The Newberry College women's volleyball team (1-3, 0-0 SAC) concluded the Flagler Invitational on August 26^th, dropping both games to the Davenport University Panthers, and the Emory-Riddle University Eagles.
 
The Panthers got out to a hot start against the Panthers, stretching a lead of 13-7, but a timeout from the Wolves led to consecutive kills from junior Taylor Hall (McDonough, Ga) and freshman Samantha Shaffer (Belle Isle, Fla) took away their momentum to come within one and forced a Panther timeout of their own. The teams battled back and forth until Davenport closed out of the set on a 7-1 run, taking set one 25-19.
 
The Wolves took advantage of an early error from the Panthers in the second set and then had back-to-back kills from Shaffer and senior Olivia Diggs (Titusville, Fla) to take and early 3-1 lead. The Wolves were able to maintain a short lead throughout the beginning of the set, but multiple errors led to a huge momentum swing for the Panthers that the Wolves could not overtake, leading to a 25-13 win for Davenport in the second set.
 
Newberry took a quick 2-0 lead at the start of the third set, from to a kill by Hall and an attacking error from the Panthers. The two sides fought for momentum throughout the set, until the Panthers took five straight to take a 16-11 lead. The wolves fought hard to try take away the momentum, but in the end, the Panthers took the final set and the win, 25-18.
 
Hall and freshman Kate Brown (Platte City, Mo) led the team with eight kills and senior Avery Webb (Florence, S.C.) had a team high 17 assists.
 
In the second game, the Eagles jumped out to an early lead, but kills from sophomore Baylor Berlehy (Auburn, Calif.) and senior Katie Ullsperger (Lexington, S.C.) kept the Wolves close. However, the Eagles quickly gain momentum that Wolves couldn't stop, winning the first set 25-15.
 
Errors from the Eagles and a kill from Shaffer gave the Wolves an early lead the second set. The had many short runs of success, taking advantage of many errors the Eagles had and a few kills from Herlehy. The Eagles were able to keep their lead close, eventually taking huge momentum late, taking the second set 25-21.
 
Serves from Webb and Hall to start the third set got the Wolves rolling, jumping out to an early 10-1 lead. The Wolves kept a lead throughout the set, with the Eagles slowly shortening it. Each teams took multiple long runs with the momentum, but gained momentum last, winning the final set 25-21.
 
Herlehy led the team with five kills, with freshman Annie Dill (Jacksonville, Fla) leading the Wolves with nine assists.
 
The Wolves will return to the court next week, September 2^nd, as they host the Newberry College Volleyball Invitational. The Wolves will take on Lees McRae College at 12 PM, followed by Valdosta State University at 7:30 PM.