Marietta, GA – The Webber International Men's volleyball team jumped back on the court on Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader against Life University and Talladega College. The Warriors brought down the thunder on the Running Eagles and Tornadoes, defeating Life 3-1 and sweeping Talladega 3-0.
 
The Warriors jumped off to a hot start in their first matchup of the day against the Running Eagles with a kill from Carson Barnes to give the Warriors the 4-1 lead. Thoralf Schmelzer would later join in on the action with a kill of his own to put the Warriors back on top 7-6. The first set would remain tight and go to 19-19 and the Warriors led by three more Schmelzer kills would go on a run to help deliver set one to the Warriors 25-23. Set two would be a much different story with the Running Eagles putting together multiple runs despite the Warriors best efforts and they would tie the match up at 1-1 with a 25-15 set two victory.
 
With the match level at one set a piece the Warriors would be met with more adversity following a Running Eagles 6-0 run early in set three the Warriors would bounce back and tie the game up at 12-12 with Barnes racking up his eighth kill of the afternoon and he would ultimately finish with 14 for the match. Kai Desauguste would earn the squad a service and kills from Andrew Nielsen and Schmelzer would help keep the Warriors on top through the middle portion of the set. It was a tough gritty battle through the entiriety of the set but following a series of attacking errors from the Running Eagles, the Warriors would wrap up set three 25-21 to set up the potential to take the match in set four. Set four would be a similar story to the previous set with the Running Eagles proving to be a worthy adversary. Schmelzer would help the Warriors to hit their stride early with three more kills apart of his team high 16 kill match. Ayden Keeter would rack up 34 more assists bringing him to 310 for the season so far. The Warriors would finish off the Running Eagles in four sets after four consecutive Barnes kills to win set four 25-18 and the match 3-1.
 
The Warriors had about a 30 minute break in between games before they faced off against the Talladega College Tornadoes for the first time this season. The Warriors, fresh off another conference victory, opened set one on a 10-2 run with three service aces from Barnes and an ace from Trent Massey. Kevin McCarthy would rack up four kills along with two more from Gunter Perea. The Warriors dominating set one coasted to an easy 25-6 victory. Set two brought a little more resistance to the Warriors as the Tornadoes would keep the score closer throughout the beginning portion of the set. Schmelzer would help the Warriors extend their lead out to 10-5 with three early kills and back to back Massey kills brought the Warriors to a 14-6 lead. Tinashe Makona would get the last word for the Warriors in set two wrapping it up at 25-17 with his first kill of the day to give the Warriors a commanding lead. The Warriors were once again led by Schmelzer with seven kills, Perea with six, and Joshua Corr and McCarthy would add five and four kills for the Warriors throughout their second match of the afternoon. Keeter added on another 29 assists to his season total and the Warriors finished off the sweep of the Tornadoes 25-18 to win the match 3-0.
 
The Warriors will return home to start their home stretch of games next week as they battle the St. Andrews Knights on Thursday, March 28^th at 7 PM.
 
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