Babson Park, FL – The Webber International men's volleyball team faced off against their crooked lake rival Warner University on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors took the challenge of facing the Royals on the road, who received votes in the NAIA preseason poll, and completed a three-set sweep of the Royals to continue their dominate start to the 2024 season.
 
The Warriors rolled into Lake Wales on Saturday afternoon, fresh off their first game and victory of the young season. The Warriors would carry that momentum from Thursday's win and get off to a fast start against their crooked lake rival Royals. Kevin McCarthy was a vital component to the Warriors potent offense early, racking up a kill and two service aces to give the Warriors an early 5-2 advantage. Gunter Perea would add two of his own kills to keep their advantage early on as well. The Royals would keep the game close through the beginning of set one but a three-point swing by the Warriors behind a kill from Carson Barnes and another ace from McCarthy would push the lead up to eight and give the Warriors breathing room. Thoralf Schmelzer would be the finisher in set one for the Warriors, racking up two kills and then the game winning ace to deliver the Warriors to a 25-15 set one victory.
 
The story of set two would be that of back-and-forth play, with neither side being able to build a substantial advantage throughout the set. Joshua Corr would get the Warriors rolling with his first kill of the day to even the score up early 2-2. Schmelzer would bring the Warriors back from an early deficit with a kill, followed by Joan Galmes serving up an ace to bring the Warriors back within one. Barnes would rally the Warriors back to even the score 9-9 with his fourth kill of the day, and just two points later his fifth kill to even the score back up again at 10-10. Andrew Nielsen would get on the board for the Warriors with his first kill of the day, set up by Ayden Keeter who had 36 assists on the day. The Warriors would rally late in the second set and run off four straight points to give them the largest lead of set two 18-14. Schmelzer would rack up another two kills during the Warriors run and after a kill from Barnes, the Warriors would lead 20-17, looking to take set two in a hurry. The Royals bounced right back and tied it up at 20-20, before the Warriors would answer the call and tally off a 3-0 run behind a kill and ace from McCarthy. The Royals would not go away quietly though forcing the game into a 25-25 tie. The Warriors would capitalize off a service error from the Royals, and Schmelzer would tally two more kills and Cesar Remedios would top off the second set victory with a kill to give the Warriors the 28-26 set two win.
 
The Warriors would go into set three against the Royals with a chance to sweep their rivals and remain perfect in sets to start the season. The Royals refused to make it easy on the Warriors, jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead early on multiple service aces. It would take a total team effort to slowly but surely cut into the deficit. McCarthy and Perea would both strike with kills in a 6-2 Warriors run forcing a Royals timeout. Schmelzer would strike with his own thunder from above with two kills as the Warriors brought the game back, cutting the deficit just down to one at 16-15. McCarthy and Barnes would finish off the Warriors comeback as they were set up two more assists from Keeter to tie the score up at 17-17. The Warriors would run off an 8-5 run to wrap up their three-set sweep of the Royals and win set three 25-23.
 
The Warriors will return to the Sabbagh Center next Friday, February 16^th at 6 PM for another Appalachian Athletic Conference matchup against Reinhardt University.
 
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