FORT VALLEY, Ga.- Fort Valley's Men's Volleyball (4-8) won their second home match of the season with a comeback sweep against Emmanuel University (3-7) Tuesday night in Woodward Gymnasium.
The opening set would start as a rally between the two teams, but Emmanuel would then go on a 12-4 run making the score 16-8. A side out and an ace from
Haris Syed would bring the Wildcats to double digits 16-10. Fort Valley would go on a rally with Emmanuel, but the Lions extended the lead enough to seal the deal and win 25-15.
The teams open the second set going back and forth for the lead. The Lions go up by two but a kill by
De'vonte Payton and a side out brings the score to 5-5. Fort Valley then takes the lead (12-11) with an attack from
Keaton Long. The teams continued to rally for the second set, with the Lions remaining on top and taking the second set victory 25-23.
Both teams are showing heart as the third set opens in a tug-of-war for the lead between the two. Kills from
Jamari Griffin, Long, and
Taviian Martin pushes the Wildcats ahead 10-6. The Lions answered with a 4-0 run tying the score at 10-10. The Wildcats continue to dominate the third set and go on an 11-4 run, ultimately, winning the set 25-18.
The fourth set starts with both teams showing strong offense and defense eventually tying the score 2-2, however, the Wildcats had more grit and went on a 7-3 run initiated by a kill from Long. Emmanuel put up an aggressive twelve runs to Fort Valley's eight tying the score 17-17. The next few plays, Fort Valley would lead by one and Emmanuel would tie. A late attack from Martin would shift the momentum of the fourth set in Fort Valley's favor and the Wildcats would take the win with a 25-20 score.
Fort Valley kept the momentum going into the final set, opening with two side outs and an attack by
Isaiah Fedd making the score 3-0. An attacking error put Emmanuel on the board, but the Wildcats shortly followed up with another 3-0 run over the Lions bringing the score to 6-1. The teams went back and forth for several plays, but the Wildcats showed the most fight and remained victorious as they put up one last 3-0 run and closed the fifth set 15-8.
Keaton Long led the Wildcats on offense with 15 kills with teammate
Taviian Martin adding an impressive 12 kills.
Logan Eaton had a respectable 24 assists and
Haris Syed added 13 assists to the teams total of 46. Long,
Jaeden Barnes, and
Jamari Griffin protected the court with a collective 31 digs.
The Wildcats are on the road facing Brigham Young University in Provo, UT on Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. MST/9 p.m. EST.
