WALESKA, Ga. (February 11, 2022) - The Webber International University men's volleyball team traveled to Reinhardt University to participate in a Mid-South Conference pod on Friday. The Warriors began the pod with a tight five-set upset of the No. 13 nationally-ranked Georgetown College Tigers, 3-2 (25-23, 13-25, 20-25, 25-23, 16-14). They then faced Bluefield College in which they earned another victory, 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18, 15-6).

It was a tightly contested match between the Warriors (9-3 overall, 3-0 SUN) and the No. 13 Tigers (7-4, 3-1). All three sets that Webber won were decided by just a two-point margin.

The Warriors started on the front foot, capturing a very competitive first set and earning a 1-0 lead. Webber would struggle to hit, having its worse set in terms of hitting percentage in set number two at -.038 percent. Georgetown would bounce back to capture the second set, 25-13, leveling the game at one a piece. In the third set, the Warriors would hit a much improved .333 percent but the Tigers improved as well hitting a very impressive .522 percent and earned the 25-20 victory, gaining the advantage at 2-1.

Georgetown would jump out to an 11-6 lead to start the fourth set, however, the Warriors would then go on a 4-0 run that included two kills from Daniel Hermida to cut the deficit to just one. A 5-1 run later in the set from Webber would earn them a 19-18 lead. The Warriors would have match point at 24-23 and a final kill from Chris Ludwig would seal the fourth set and force the game into a fifth set. The Tigers would start out hot, beginning with a 4-0 run to take an early lead before a 7-3 run from Webber would tie the set at 7-7. A 4-0 run from the Warriors later in the set would see them at match point, with a 14-12 lead. Back-to-back scores from Georgetown would level the set yet again, but a service error from the Tigers followed by a kill from Tinaishe Ndavazocheva would end the set and match.

Ndavazocheva would lead the Warriors with a total of 15 kills followed by Hermida with nine, Gunter Perea Quevedo with eight, and Lachlan Diamond wit six. Peyten Young finished with 38 assists to go with his three kills and two service aces. Perea Quevedo led the team with four total blocks followed closely behind by Diamond with three. Ludwig led the team with eight digs while Hermida finished with seven.

In game number two, the Warriors outhit the Rams (2-4, 1-1) in terms of kills, 58-56, as well as hitting percentage with Webber hitting .217 percent and Bluefield hitting just .171. The two teams traded set victories back and forth with Bluefield winning set number one, however, the Warriors hit over .400 percent in both of the final two sets to capture both sets and the match.

Ludwig led Webber offensively against the Rams, leading the team with 14 kills on a .560 hitting percentage. He was followed by Ndavazocheva with 10 kills and Kai Desauguste with seven. Young earned his first double-double of the season, tallying 43 assists and 11 digs as well as five kills. Luiz Gustavo Silva also finished with 11 digs while adding four kills. Hermida and Ndavazocheva both had seven digs each while Diamond finished with a game-high four blocks in total.

The Warriors will now complete the pod at Reinhardt University tomorrow, February 12th, when they battle Midway University at 2 p.m.