EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team ( 15-11) picked up a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-17) victory over visiting Ferrum College (4-22) Thursday evening in non-conference action at the John Rutledge King Center. The match also served as Senior Night for the Wasps, who honored Nicole Tesh (Boone, N.C.) and Kelly Mae Kerlin (Franklin, Tenn.) for their four years of service.
Ferrum got out to a 3-0 lead in the first set but E&H battled back to tie things at four points apiece. The set would feature eight ties and three lead changes as the Wasps got five kills from Tesh and four more from freshman outside Tristen Pennington (Kingsport, Tenn.). With the score tied at 18, Emory & Henry scored seven of the next nine points to take the set, 25-20.
The Wasps started out the second stanza with a 7-1 run, forcing the Panthers to call a timeout. Ferrum closed the gap to 11-10 and eventually took the lead 19-16 late. Emory & Henry scored the next nine points on Pennington's serve while sophomore outside hitter Hannah Stewart (Boone, N.C.) notched three kills in the stretch.
E&H started the third frame with a 6-0 run and never looked back. FC would get no closer than three points (14-11) as E&H attacked at a .250 (15-7-32) clip during the set cruising to the 25-17 win and the match victory.
Tesh led all players with 12 kills and now has 949 for her career, an Emory & Henry record. Pennington had a double-double with 10 kills, 14 digs and three aces while Stewart had 11 kills and three service aces of her own. Junior setter Maleah Neely (Hillsville, Va.) dished out 37 assists while Kerlin tallied 12 digs on the night.
Ferrum was led by Jordan Joyce with nine kills while Rachel Stratton and Ashley Ammann each recorded five kills. Emily Danner notched 24 assists and two service aces while Jessica Turner had 14 digs.
Emory & Henry will have its final match of the regular season on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. The Wasps will host the Generals of Washington and Lee University in a key league matchup with ODAC Tournament repercussions.
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