Marrietta, Ga. – The Webber International Volleyball team played two games at Life University, taking on Brenau and Reinhardt. The Warriors fell in both games 3-1, but showed fight in each match.
Webber pushed Brenau to the brink in three straight sets but came up just short in a 3–1 defeat (15–25, 25–23, 23–25, 23–25) at a neutral-site match in Marietta, Ga., on Friday morning. After a slow start in the opener, the Warriors found their rhythm behind steadier passing and a sharper left-side attack to make the final three frames two-point nail-biters.
The Warriors' best stretch came in the second set, when an early service run from setter Abigail Leonard—including an ace—helped stake Webber to a lead that grew to 14–8. Brenau clawed back to 15–15, but Webber answered with timely sideouts from Kaylee Hunt and Kalyn Morgan, and Leonard dumped the winner on set point to even the match, 25–23.
Set three turned into a rally of runs. Brenau's serve pressure created an early cushion, but Webber chipped away behind Hailey Mull and a Leonard ace to pull level at 23–23. The Tigers escaped on a Webber attack error and a Claire Beckman kill, 25–23. The fourth followed a similar script: Webber surged ahead 13–8 on the strength of Mull, Morgan and Samantha Gomez at the line, only for Brenau to close late and edge it 25–23.
Hunt paced Webber with 18 kills and eight digs, while Mull (12 kills) and Morgan (10 kills, 10 digs, two aces) rounded out a balanced attack. Leonard orchestrated the offense with 37 assists, adding nine digs and two aces, and libero Alejandra Aponte anchored the back row with 20 digs and two aces. Gomez tallied three aces as Webber finished with 10 as a team, plus 60 digs and 4.0 total blocks. Brenau hit .266 behind Hannah Werner (15 kills) and Ashlyn Browning (13), with setter Nathalia Quintero dishing 44 assists.
Webber International battled back to take the third set and led late in the fourth, but Reinhardt escaped with a 3–1 decision (21–25, 16–25, 25–20, 24–26) on Friday afternoon. The Warriors steadied after a rocky first two frames, riding a more efficient left-side attack and improved first contact to extend the match.
Kalyn Morgan paced Webber with 13 kills on .275 hitting and added eight digs, while Hailey Mull chipped in 10 kills and nine digs. Libero Alejandra Aponte anchored the back row with a match-high 23 digs, and the Warriors used a two-setter look with Alanys Rodriguez (17 assists, nine digs, ace) and Abigail Leonard (11 assists). At the net, Anna Morton posted 4.0 total blocks and Kaylynn Stokes added 2.0 as Webber finished with 6.0 team blocks. The Warriors tallied four aces—one each from Bryanna Marks-Craig, Kaylee Hunt, Rodriguez and Morgan.
After an early 4–1 edge in the opener, Webber was stalled by a string of Eagle service aces and fell 25–21, then trailed 6–0 and 11–1 to start the second before dropping it 25–16. The Warriors flipped the script in the third: a 10–4 burst forced two Reinhardt timeouts, and late kills from Mull and Morgan closed out a 25–20 win.
Set four swung on serve-receive. Webber nudged ahead 23–22 on back-to-back Morgan kills, but Reinhardt closed on a 4–1 push to take it 26–24. The Eagles' pressure behind the line (13 aces) and size at the net (11.0 blocks) ultimately offset Webber's defensive grit (67 digs) on the day.
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