EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (13-16, 5-6 ODAC) shored up sixth place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference regular season with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-23) sweep of Guilford College (6-17, 2-9 ODAC) Thursday evening at the John Rutledge King Center.
The contest also served as senior night for the Wasps, who honored Natasha Moore (Fries, Va.) for her four years as a member of the Emory & Henry volleyball team.
In the first set, the Wasps found themselves downs 4-2, but then reeled off five points in a row to take the lead. E&H built its advantage throughout the frame and finished things out with a 7-0 run to win, 25-12.
Guilford got out to a 4-0 lead in the second stanza but the Wasps came back to tie things up, 5-5, and went on to lead 12-7 after a 6-0 run midway through the set. With the score 14-13, E&H scored 10 of the next 12 points including six in a row to close things out for a 25-15 win and 2-0 match lead.
The two squads battled through nine ties and two lead changes in the third set before Emory & Henry came away with the win. E&H went up 10-5 early on, but Guilford tied the score at 12. Ties at 14, 15, 19 and 20 paved the way for a thriller down the stretch but a kill by junior middle Kennady Thomason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) put the match away.
Sophomore outside hitter Ali Singleton (Mount Jackson, Va.) led all players with 11 kills and posted a .429 (11-2-21) hitting percentage while Thomason hit .571 with eight kills on 14 swings and added four blocks. Freshman middle Kate Franklin (Blountville, Tenn.) finished the match with nine kills while junior right-side hitter Hannah Doss (Meadowview, Va.) notched eight kills and six digs. Sophomore setter Sarah Scott (Collinsville, Va.) had 21 assists while freshman Sam McCauley (Glade Spring, Va.) added 14 assists and four aces. Junior libero Emily Hinshaw (Boone, N.C.) posted a match-high 11 digs.
Guilford was paced by Kelsey Ruehling's eight kills, four blocks and four digs while Casey Davis added 15 assists, three kills and six digs. Brooke Herr had three kills and six digs while Marina Popp notched tghree kills and four blocks. Steffi Dutton tallied a team-high seven digs.
As a team, Emory & Henry attacked at a .272 (42-17-92) clip for the match, had five aces and four blocks. Guilford had a flat .000 (19-19-79) hitting percentage and added two aces and five blocks.
Emory & Henry will await the release of the ODAC Tournament pairings which will come on Sunday afternoon after the conclusion of the final matches of the regular season. The Wasps will be on the road on Wednesday evening for their quarterfinal matchup.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15