BABSON PARK, Fla. (January 15, 2022) - The Webber International University men's volleyball team opened its 2022 season Friday night as it hosted the Chargers of Division-III Lancaster Bible College. The Warriors split the two games, losing the first in a tight five set match and sweeping the second match.

The Warriors (1-1 overall) had a strong start to match one, winning a close first set and a comfortable second set. Webber fell behind in a tight third set and struggled to bounce back in set number four. The Warriors jumped out to a 4-3 lead in the fifth set, but the Chargers (3-1) then scored three-straight points to take the lead 6-4. The two teams traded points before Webber went on a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set at 10. However, Lancaster Bible would respond with back-to-back scores of its own and ultimately win the set and match.

In match one, the Warriors were led by Daniel Hermida who led the team in kills (17) and digs (12). He was followed by Chris Ludwig who finished with 11 kills and Gunter Perea Quevedo with nine. Peyten Young was dishing out the assists for Webber, tallying 46 in total for the match. Freshman Lachlan Diamond led the team in blocks with three, followed by Ludwig with two and Young with one.

Match two saw lineup rotations from both sides, as the Warriors cruised to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-10) sweep. Webber hit a very impressive .359 percent in the match as a team.

Kai Desauguste and Jackson Arnold led the Warriors in match two with seven kills each followed by Andrea Di Paola with five. Kornel Szabo led the team with four service aces while Piero Eletto and Desauguste both led the team in digs (5). Christopher Padilla and Wesley Blazek were dishing out the assists for the Warriors with 16 and 10 respectively.

"Tonight's matches were a good indicator of where we are at," Head Coach Carlos Jimenez said after the matches. "In the first match, we started strong but had some issues with consistency. As the guys get better implementing our systems, we should see a little bit more stability and fulfill the potential that the team promises. The second team did much better in match number two but overall we have a good indicator of what needs to be worked out as we go back into practices next week."

Webber now travels to California for three back-to-back matches, starting with a match against The Master's University, who are receiving votes in the national polls. The match is set for Thursday, January 20, at 2 p.m.