WATERTOWN, Wis. -- Maranatha was unable to get the best of Emmaus, losing in three sets at home. 

Arielle Henkel and Kiarra Henkel led the Sabercats on the front line, finishing with 17 and 10 kills respectively. Megan Miller played scrappy on the defensive side, tallying up 20 digs on the night. 

OVERVIEW

• Results:
  • Maranatha 0-3 Emmaus (22-25, 22-25, 26-28)
• Venue: MBU Gymnasium - Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Event: NCCAA Midwest Region 
• Attendance: 90
• Records: MBU (8-9), EBC (7-5)

STORY 

The Sabercats were feeling ready, having come off of a three-win weekend. After just seeing Emmaus the Friday before and winning in an epic five-set match, Maranatha felt good at the start of the night. But Emmaus had vengeance in their eyes after the Sabercats bested them on their home court, and they immediately attacked. The Eagles took the Sabercats by surprise and grabbed an early 7-2 lead. But Maranatha is not one to give up, and fought their way back, keeping things close till the very end. 

After bringing the margin to just two points, at 20-22 (EBC), the Eagle's coach called a timeout to give her team time to collect themselves. The timeout worked in favor of Emmaus as Maranatha handed over two errors, setting up the finishing blow with came from Eagle's Selah Gregory (25-22 EBC).

Set two had an opposite start, but a very similar ending. A kill apiece from Arielle Henkel and Kiarra Henkel, along with a number of Eagle errors, gave the Sabercats a 6-1 lead coming out. But the Eagles found a soft spot in the Maranatha defense and slammed down three kills back-to-back-to-back. Still, the Sabercats were able to hold on to a small lead for most of the game before the Eagles tied things up, 14-14, and later took the lead for another 25-22 win over Maranatha. 

The third set started tight, with both teams going back and forth until Emmaus pulled ahead. It looked like they were going to cruise to victory after getting a 22-17 lead on the Sabercats. But Maranatha showed they weren't ready to go down without a fight and went on a five-point run to tie the game up. Both A. Henkel and K. Henkel kept their team alive with kill after kill. But the Eagle's Kaitlin Rahn returned the favor with a couple of kills of her own, bringing the set over 25 points. In the end, Emmaus was able to finish on top with a 28-26 win and a 3-0 sweep on the night. 

MBU Starters: 3-Johnson, 7-Steuerwald, 9-Hinze, 15-Bartlett, 16-Nason, 21-A. Henkel, 22-Miller (Libero)

STATS

• MBU: 43 K, 40 A, 73 DIGS
  • A. Henkel: 17 K
  • K. Henkel: 10 K, 14 DIGS
  • Miller: 20 DIGS, 2 SA
  • Johnson: 40 A, 11 DIGS, 4 K
  • Nason: 13 DIGS
  • Steuerwald: 5 K, 7 DIGS
  • Hinze: 6 K
• Last Time: Maranatha beat Emmaus 3-2 earlier this season, on September 29.
• Series: Maranatha leads in the all-time series against Emmaus 12-2

*Career-High

OPPONENT

• Emmaus competes in the Midwest Christian College Conference
• Emmaus also competes with Maranatha in the National Christian College Athletic Association Midwest Region
• Emmaus finished the 2022 season with a record of 0-16

NEXT

The Sabercats stay in Watertown where they will play a double-header against Moody on Saturday at 1 & 3 p.m. in a NCCAA Midwest region match-up. The Sabercats will recognize their parents on this day.  Follow all the action at mbusabercats.com/schedule.