Wolves prepared for home opener vs. Lander

NEWBERRY - After a 4-0 start to the season, the Newberry Wolves volleyball team will play for the home crowd for the first time at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Eleazer Arena.

Newberry swept Mount Olive and USC Aiken and had 3-1 wins over Francis Marion and Pfeiffer in last weekend's tournament. The Wolves are one of only two 4-0 teams in the South Atlantic Conference and one of four undefeated teams in the league. This is Newberry's first 4-0 start since 2007 and only the second since the scarlet and gray joined the conference in 1996.

The Wolves' offense has been led in the early going by preseason first team all-SAC selection Samantha Parrish (Angola, Ind.) who had three double-doubles and leads the league with 3.71 kills per set. Second team preseason all-SAC pick Lauren Prachar (Fort Wayne, Ind.) is second on the team and 11th in the league with 1.85 kills per set.

Setters Rachel Moran (Cypress, Texas) and Blair Browning (New Lexington, Ohio) rank sixth and seventh in the SAC in assists with 4.71 and 4.0 per set respectively while running the 6-2 offense. Defensively, Jessica King (Los Angeles, Calif.) ranks fourth in the conference with 0.92 blocks per set. Parrish ranks sixth in the league with 3.36 digs per set, while libero Elayni Stokes (Houston, Texas) is seventh in the SAC with 3.21 digs per set.

LANDER (2-2 overall)
Tuesday's opponent, the Lander Bearcats, went 2-2 at the Valdosta State Tournament to open the season with wins over Albany State and Coastal Georgia and losses to Valdosta State and Florida Tech. Tarryn Angermeier leads the Bearcats with 3.18 kills per set while Kaitlyn Harrison averages 2.76 kills and Kiki Hennessey averages 2.71 kills per set. The Bearcats are running a 5-1 offense and Jessica Register has averaged 9.35 assists per set. LU's back row defense has been spread around with four players averaging over three digs per set.

This is the first of two meetings between the squads this season, as they will meet again in Greenwood on October 16. Live statistics will be available for Tuesday's match at www.NewberryWolves.com/live.