EMORY, Va. - After a down year last season, the Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team made solid strides in 2016 and finished tied for fifth during the Old Dominion Athletic Conference regular season. Earning a sixth seed for the conference tournament, the Wasps (16-13, 6-5 ODAC) earned nine 3-0 shut outs during the season and saw four players receive All-ODAC honors. The team improved in kills per set, hitting percentage, assists per set and digs per set from last year's numbers.
The team will see an accomplished senior depart with the end of the season. Tristen Pennington (Kingsport, Tenn.) will leave E&H as the most decorated volleyball player in school history as the 2013 ODAC Rookie of the year and a four-time All-ODAC pick. She is the first to reach 1,000 career kills and also notched 1,000 career digs. Kennady Thomason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) is a three-time All-ODAC honoree and tallied 1,849 kills and 293 blocks in her career. Hannah Doss (Meadowview, Va.) notched 852 kills and 966.5 points and was named All-ODAC in 2015 while Emily Hinshaw (Boone, N.C.) finished with the program record in service aces with 155 and third in career digs for the Wasps with 1,368. She was also named to the All-ODAC Third Team for the first time in her career. Breanna Wallen (Rye Cove, Va.) saw action in 88 matches and had 297 digs on her career and Danielle Williams (Abingdon, Va.) saw played in 21 matches over two years with the program. These six individuals will be missed in the future of Emory & Henry volleyball.
Many of the underclassmen had great seasons for the Wasps in 2016. Junior Ali Singleton (Mount Jackson, Va.) was an All-ODAC Second-Team honoree, leading the team with 278 kills, 2.81 kills per set, and 304 points. Sophomore Sam McCauley (Glade Spring, Va.) led the team with 513 assists while Tori Holmberg (Wake Forest, N.C.) tallied 137 kills and 160.5 points. Junior Sarah Scott (Collinsville, Va.) notched 114 assists while sophomore Kate Franklin (Blountville, Tenn.) registered 83.5 points.
Sophomores Megan Stitzer (Chesterfield, Va.) and Amethyst Crawford (Afton, Tenn.) provided solid depth for Emory & Henry this year as earned increased playing time in their second season with the Wasps. Freshman Sydney McKinney (Big Stone Gap, Va.) was named the MVP at the Greensboro College Invitational early in the season, while fellow freshman Maggie Roark (Maryville, Tenn.) posted 136 assists in her rookie year.
Emory & Henry will look to its group of underclassmen for both leadership and execution during the 2017 season with the departure of this senior class. The 2017 campaign will see the Wasps continue their move up the ODAC standings with the goals of hosting an ODAC Tournament match in search of the program's first ODAC Championship.
Team Leaders
Kills – 278 – Ali Singleton
Kills per Set – 2.81 – Ali Singleton
Assists – 513 – Sam McCauley
Service Aces – 35 – Sam McCauley
Digs – 405 – Emily Hinshaw
Blocks – 82 – Kennady Thomason
Points – 304 – Ali Singleton