MEMPHIS-the Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs opened the 2017 season with a pair of wins Friday at Canale Arena, dropping Assumption in four sets in the morning and holding off Newman in five sets in the evening.

CBU 3, Assumption 1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-9, 25-16):
WHAT HAPPENED:
The Lady Bucs (2-0) scored 14 straight points with freshman Kapria Manning (Olive Branch, Miss./Center Hill HS) serving to blow open a close third set en route to a four-set win.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• CBU used a four-point run early to take the lead for good at 8-5 in the first set, eventually stretching their lead to 20-10 when Gennah Schoen (Portland, Ore./David Douglas HS) capped a 9-1 run with a kill. CBU held on to win 25-19.
• The Greyhounds (0-2) scored eight of the last 11 points to rally for a 28-26 win in the second set after CBU had led 10-5 early and held the lead as late as 26-25.
• The Lady Bucs scored five straight to take a 5-1 lead in the third set, but a four-point run drew Assumption within 9-8 before Manning's dominant stretch. The decisive 14-point run started with an Emma Lenoir (Chattanooga, Tenn./East Hamilton HS) kill, and it ended with an ace, Manning's fourth of the run, to give CBU a 23-8 lead. In between, kills by Mary Kathryn Miller (Fulton, Ky./Fulton City HS) and Lenoir stretched out the CBU lead. Lenoir capped the set with a kill for the 25-9 win.
• CBU again seized control early in the fourth set, using a seven-point run capped by a Ke'alohilani Wong (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kamehameha HS) ace to give CBU an 11-6 edge. After Assumption closed within 12-11, the Lady Bucs used a 12-3 run to take a 24-14 lead on a Miller block, eventually winning 25-16 to clinch the victory.

KEY STATS:
• Lenoir led the Lady Bucs with 15 kills, hitting .297 as she added eight digs and four aces.
• Miller racked up 14 kills, hitting .571 with five blocks.
• Manning notched five aces to go with eight digs, seven kills and three blocks.
• Blythe Clausen (Hendersonvile, Tenn./Pope John Paul II HS) logged 21 digs.
• Alexa Henderson (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie HS) dished out 22 assists with seven digs.
• Anna Graziosi (Lakeland, Tenn./St. Benedict HS) had 15 assists and seven digs.
• Wong added four aces with six digs.

CBU 3, Newman 2 (25-13, 26-24, 16-26, 18-25, 15-11):
WHAT HAPPENED:
The Lady Bucs won the first two sets quickly, but visiting Newman (1-1) won the next two to force a decisive fifth set. Newman led for much of the back-and-forth fifth set, but CBU scored the last five points to win 15-11.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• CBU hit .550 in the first set as they cruised to leads of 10-5, 14-6 and 17-7 en route to a 25-13 win.
• The second set was much closer, with no lead of more than three points. The Lady Bucs never trailed, however, taking a quick 5-2 lead, but Newman battled back to tie the set at 5, 10 and 13. A three-point run gave CBU a 16-13 edge, but the Jets battled back to tie the set at 21 with a 4-1 burst. CBU again took leads of 23-21 and 24-22, but a service error and a kill gave Newman another tie at 24-all. Manning and Henderson provided back-to-back kills to give the Lady Bucs a 26-24 win.
• The Jets took early leads of 5-2, 13-7 and 19-8 in the third set en route to a 25-16 win.
• Newman again jumped to a quick start in the fourth set, taking an 8-3 lead  and extending it to 15-9 before CBU threatened with a four-point run, capped by a Manning kill that cut the deficit to 15-13. Newman answered with five straight to take a 20-13 lead, and CBU never came closer than four points again as Newman won 25-18 to force a fifth set.
• The Jets scored the first two points in the fifth set, but CBU answered with kills by Schoen and Lenoir to tie the set. Neither team would lead by more than one point again until late in the set. Newman used back-to-back CBU attack errors to take an 11-10 lead, but CBU scored the final five points, capped by a Lenoir ace, to take a 15-11 victory.

KEY STATS:
• Manning rapped out a team-high 15 kills to go with seven digs, two aces and two blocks.
• Lenoir added 14 kills, 11 digs and three aces with two blocks.
• Miller logged 10 kills with three blocks.
• Mollie Wadsworth (Hernando, Miss./Northpoint Christian HS) hit .304 with nine kills.
• Clausen garnered 18 digs with four assists.
• Wong notched 15 digs.
• Henderson dished out 39 assists with 10 digs and three kills.

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Lady Bucs play two more home matches Saturday, hosting Arkansas-Monticello at 9 a.m. before wrapping up the CBU Invitational against Tiffin at 7 p.m.