The North Greenville Crusaders survived a scare by winning a five set match against the Lions of Emmanuel College with a final score of 3-2. NGU took the first two sets, but the Lions stormed back in sets three and four to force a fifth set. However, NGU closed out the match by winning the set in extra points. Jackson Gilbert had a big match, posting 23 kills and 59 total attacks.

After an even start to the opening set, Emmanuel put together the first run of the match, scoring a 9-2 run to lead 12-7. From there, North Greenville would outscore the Lions throughout the remainder of the set, but Emmanuel was able to score just enough to force extra points. An attack error followed by a kill from Jackson Gilbert put an end to the opening set, with the Crusaders taking it 26-24.

After three early ties in set two, North Greenville went on another run, scoring ten of twelve points to take a 15-7. Trailing by nine, Emmanuel closed out the deficit to three. From there, the Crusaders were able to close out the set with a 4-1 run to win the second set 25-19.

North Greenville led early on in set three, but the Lions put together five straight points to lead 12-10. The Crusaders would take one more lead in the set, but Emmanuel was able to reclaim the lead and never look back. They went on to take the third set 25-22.

The Lions went on their biggest run of the match from the start of set fourto lead 15-7. NGU closed the gap down to two points, but Emmanuel would close things out to take the fourth set 25-19 to force a set five.

A competitive fifth set resulted in eight ties. North Greenville was either tied or led by one for the majority of the set, but the Lions would claim their first lead in the set with the score 14-13. However, North Greenville would come back to claim the final three points including two kills by Brandon Baker to win the set 16-14 and claim the match.

NGU will face the Rams of Bluefield College on Friday, February 28th in Tigerville.