LAKE WALES, Fla. - The Royals battled to 5 sets in both of their final matches of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Pod on Friday and Saturday against Life University and Truett McConnell University. The Royals battled in both matches, but would fall 3-2 against both opponents.

Warner and Life battled back-and-forth in a tightly contested match where neither team was able to win two sets in a row. The Royals took sets 2 and 4 by scores of 25-to-18 and 25-to-19, but fell in sets 1, 3, and 5 battling to the end. Darion Graham lead the Royals with 16 Kills in the 5 set match with the Eagles while recording 1 Service Ace in Friday night's matchup. Graham was also tied with a team high 7 Digs with KJ Harrison and Meric Akovali. Donovon Adams lead the team with 2 Service Aces while Romone Rudolph recorded a game high and a single game Career High 8 Blocks, 7 Solo and 1 Assisted. The Senior also recorded a Career High 19.5 Points in an all-around day against the Eagles. Akovali recorded all but 3 Assists for the Royals with 44, a new season high for the Senior from Turkey. 

On Saturday, the Royals took on the Bears of Truett McConnell less than 12 hours after the completion of Warner's match against Life University. Both teams were evenly matched going toe-to-toe for all 5 sets with neither team winning by more than 3 points through the first 4 sets. Warner took sets 1 and 4 by a score of 27-25 and 25-22, but TMU were able to grind out wins in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th sets. Caleb Welling and Romone Rudolph lead the Royals with 14 Kills each, which was a new Career High for Welling and a new Season High for Rudolph. Milos Sipragic and Rudolph lead the team with 2 Service Aces each while Rudolph and Brandon Troyer tacked on 3 blocks each against the Bears. Akovali lead the Royals with 37 Assists while adding 9 digs and recording 4 points against the Bears and Harrison lead Warner with 11 Digs. 

The Royals will look to bounce back next weekend when they take on Bluefield University and Carolina University in another AAC pod in North Carolina.

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Match Leaders vs Life University

• Kills: Darion Graham (16)
• Aces: Donovon Adams (2)
• Assists: Meric Akovali (44)
• Digs: 3 Royals with 7 Digs

Team Stats vs Life University

• Points: 67
• Kills: 47
• Aces: 8
• Blocks: 12
• Assists: 47
• Digs: 36

Match Leaders vs Truett McConnel University

• Kills: Romone Rudolph & Caleb Welling (14)
• Aces: Milos Sipragic & Romone Rudolph (2)
• Assists: Meric Akovali (37)
• Digs: KJ Harrison (11)

Team Stats vs Truett McConnel University

• Points: 74
• Kills: 58
• Aces: 7
• Blocks: 9
• Assists: 59
• Digs: 46

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