ROANOKE, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team improved to 4-0 on the year with a pair of wins Friday afternoon at the Hollins Green Invitational. The Wasps took down host Hollins, 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-19) to start things off and then won a five-set thriller over the Cobras of Virginia Intermont College, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 16-14) to cap the night.
Each of E&H's 19 players saw action in the Wasps' non-conference victory over Hollins. As a team, Emory & Henry hit .278 (34-12-79) and was led by freshman outside hitter Tristen Pennington (Knoxville, Tenn.), who went 14-1-20 (.650) in the contest. Freshman right side hitter Ashlea Giblin (Hendersonville, N.C.) added six kills with a .714 hitting percentage while senior middle Nicole Tesh (Boone, N.C.) chipped in five kills.
Senior libero Kelly Mae Kerlin (Franklin, Tenn.) had 13 digs and six service aces while Pennington added six aces of her own. Freshman setter Autumn Roe (Bluff City, Tenn.) had a team-high 16 assists while junior setter Maleah Neely (Hillsville, Va.) dished-out 10 helpers.
The Wasps had a total of 16 service aces compared to just three for the Green-and-Gold. E&H sided-out at an efficient 70% percent (38-of-54) for the match.
Hollins was paced by Lauren Hays' seven-kill performance. Rikki Martinez, Haley Ortiz and Lela Moore each had four kills while Moore added 17 assists. As a team, Hollins attacked at a .250 (23-7-64) clip.
In the second meeting between Emory & Henry and Virginia Intermont in four days, the excitement of Tuesday night carried over to Friday's matchup. The Wasps had another 12 aces led by Kerlin's eight-ace match to go along with 19 digs.
Pennington kept the offense going with 13 kills and completed her double-double with 22 digs. Tesh went 12-2-26 (.385) and added four blocks while freshman outside hitter Hannah Doss (Meadowview, Va.) notched 11 kills as well for E&H. Neely posted a double-double with 31 assists and 10 digs and Roe had 10 assists as well. Freshman defensive specialist Emily Hinshaw (Boone, N.C.) posted 12 digs and two service aces.
Virginia Intermon was led by Ashleigh Manke, who had 18 kills and 13 digs. Rachel Bell had 11 kills of her own and Ashley Hooven notched a double-double with 42 assists and 11 digs. Tiffany Vu led all players with 27 digs and added three service aces.
Emory & Henry will have two more matches in the Hollins Green Invitational on Saturday. The Wasps will take on the Monarchs of Methodist University at 10:30 a.m., and will face St. Mary's College of Maryland at 12:30 p.m., to conclude the tournament.
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