EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (11-12) earned a 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-21) victory in non-conference action over visiting Ferrum College (12-12) Tuesday evening at the John Rutledge King Center.
After the two teams traded points early in the first set, the Wasps went up by a 15-9 score. Four straight points by FC drew the margin to 15-13, but Emory & Henry got a three-point run to keep the advantage. With E&H up 24-21, Ferrum reeled off three points in a row to tie things up at 24, but the Wasps pushed on for the 27-25 win and 1-0 lead in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Ali Singleton (Mount Jackson, Va.) had four of her six kills in the opening frame.
The second set saw Emory & Henry get out to an early 9-2 lead and hold off a run by Ferrum which drew the score to 13-11. The Wasps would extend their lead to 22-15 before a 6-2 run by the Panthers got the margin to 24-21, however a FC attack error sealed the 2-0 advantage.
The third stanza featured 11 ties and five lead changes and went back and forth all the way. With tie scores at 16, 18, 19, and 21 the outcome was very much in question until the Wasps reeled off the final four points of the match to win 25-21 and complete the season sweep of the Panthers.
Singleton led the attack with six kills and a .286 (6-4-21) hitting percentage and added two blocks on the night. Freshman middle Kate Franklin (Blountville, Tenn.) had four kills and posted a season-best 10 blocks while junior middle Kennady Thomason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had six kills and five blocks.
Junior right-side hitter Hannah Doss (Meadowview, Va.) added five kills and 14 digs while freshman outside hitter Tori Holmberg (Wake Forest, N.C.) had five kills of her own. Freshman setter Sam McCauley (Glade Spring, Va.) dished out 11 assists while junior libero Emily Hinshaw (Boone, N.C.) added 11 digs and five assists.
As a team, Emory & Henry attacked at just .094 (29-18-117) for the match but came away with eight service aces and 15 blocks.
Ferrum's Jessica Turner had a match-high nine kills but also added 12 errors on the day to go along with eight digs. Hannah Helbert and Hayley Williams each had six kills with Helbert added 12 digs. Emily Danner and Cheyenne Strickland combined for 25 assists while Sarah Hendrix chipped in 17 digs.
The Panthers hit 31-30-127 (.008) in the match and had seven service errors as their offense never got in a rhythm.
Emory & Henry will return to Bob Johnson Court on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m., for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference matchup against Hollins University.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15