COLUMBIA, Ky. (September 1, 2017) – With a matchup against a top-five team in the country looming in the background, the Webber International University women's volleyball team did not skip a beat as the Warriors swept Bryan College 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-16) and Martin Methodist College 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-13) during day one of the Southeastern Challenge at Biggers Sports Center.

The Warriors have now earned a sweep in each of their five wins on the season, with their only loss coming to a team receiving votes in the national coaches' poll, the University of Mobile.

The match against Martin Methodist did not come without a fight for the Warriors as they trailed 23-21 in the first set and 13-5 in the second before battling back to take each game. It was back-to-back kills by Emily Bowen and Carlee Baxter that finished match one, and it was a 10-0 run in the second that helped Webber get back into it.

Virginia Sagapolu had a match-high 14 kills, while Brittany Taksas reached 11 kills for the second time on the day.

Head Coach Lindsey Martin spoke about the victories today, "The Lindsey Wilson cross-conference tournament is a wonderful opportunity to play against some very competitive teams, from our region, early in the season. Both Bryan College and Martin Methodist were dynamic teams with different strengths, forcing us to step up to different challenges in each set."

Webber's biggest challenge against Bryan came in the second set as the Warriors trailed 15-13 before a 6-0 run featuring four kills by Cameron Neely and two service aces by Baxter put the Warriors out in front for good. Neely finished with a match-high 13 kills and a strong .458 attack percentage, while Taksas added 11 kills and an even stronger .588 attack percentage.

Baxter continued her impressive start to her sophomore season with assist totals of 30 and 36 in the two matches, respectively, while Michelle Calderon (14 digs in match one; 17 in match two) and Bowen (10 digs in match one; 12 in match two) were strong again defensively.

"Overall, our ability to focus on our game plan as well as adjust on the court to our opponents strengths allowed us the opportunity to win today," said Martin. "We will rest this evening as we prepare and remain focused for even tougher competition as we face Campbellsville and Lindsey Wilson tomorrow."

Webber will return to the Southeastern Challenge tomorrow, Saturday, September 2, to face Campbellsville University at 10 a.m. before squaring off against the No. 5 team in the NAIA and host of the tournament, Lindsey Wilson College, at 4 p.m. The match between the Warriors and Lindsey Wilson has been highlighted as The Sun Conference's Game of the Week.

"We are incredibly excited for the opportunity to play one of the top teams in the country," concluded Martin. "Lindsey Wilson is a very worthy opponent, and this is a great opportunity for us to battle some very tough competition. The key of the match, from my perspective, is to just focus on us and play our game. We want to put all of our energy into being the very best at what we do."

For more information on The Sun Conference's Game of the Week, please check out the official release here.