, Beacon Correspondent/strong

In volleyball, going down two games to none usually means a loss. But staring down adversity Saturday, the Emerson women’s volleyball team never lost hope.

After making short work of Pine Manor College in their first match of the day, the Lions were teetering on the brink of defeat against Norwich University.

“I don’t think anyone on the team thought we wouldn’t come back and win,” head coach Benjamin Read said in a phone interview.

The Lions pulled it together and rallied back from a two-game deficit to defeat the Cadets in five games 3-2.

“We were so desperate to do well, and we finally figured out how to put things together. The team effort was really great,” Megan Kaplon said in a phone interview. Entering Saturday’s matches, Kaplon was leading the Lions in kills.

Lions’ captain Katie Bailey, a senior visual and media arts major, said the team had to fight through a tough environment at Norwich, which was celebrating its homecoming.

“It was [Norwich’s] homecoming weekend, so there was a lot of home team spirit,” Bailey said phone interview. “We had a lot to fight against, but our team dug deep and did it.”

Bailey, who led the team in assists with 38, said that losing the first two games lit the spark that motivated the team to its eventual victory. Emerson beat the Cadets by double figures in each of the next two sets.

“I was really happy with how the team came together,” said Bailey. “We found this great fire and this great spirit; we played really well together.”

While the Lions had to work to pull it through against Norwich, Emerson’s first match against Pine Manor was an easy 3-0 victory according to Read.

“Pine Manor was a good chance for us to go ahead and get everyone a chance to see some playing time and work on some things we have been doing in practice,” Read said. “[The Norwich game] was a different type of volleyball, and it took us a little bit to make an adjustment.”

In the end, Read said the key to the victory was that the team never stopped believing in themselves.

“It was a really good team effort,” Read said.

Emerson will be back on the court at home tonight with when they host Brandeis College.

emEvan Sporer, sports editor of the/em emBeacon and member of the Emerson volleyball team, did not edit this article. Brophy can be reached at [email protected]. ww/em