SALEM, Va. - The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (12-6, 4-3 ODAC) picked up an important 3-2 conference win over Roanoke College (4-17, 1-5 ODAC) Wednesday evening at the Bast Center. The Wasps won by scores of 25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 25-21 and 15-8 to move into fourth place in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference standings. The Wasps are 3-0 on the year in matches that have gone to five sets.
Emory & Henry got out to a 7-2 lead in the first set and pushed its advantage to 12-4. Sophomore middle Nicole Tesh (Boone, N.C.) registered five kills in the stanza as the Wasps came back from a 23-20 deficit, reeling off five straight points to take the set.
The Wasps and Maroons battled back and forth early in the second frame. Roanoke scored four straight points to take a 13-10 lead that it would not give up. E&H would cut the lead to one at 16-15, but would get no closer as RC tied the match 1-1 with a 25-19 win.
Roanoke took a 2-1 lead in the match with a win in the third set. Down 18-15, the Maroons scored 10 of the last 11 points in the set for the victory.
Emory & Henry battled back in the fourth stanza to tie the match at two sets apiece. The Wasps attacked at a .244 (15-5-41) percentage as junior outside hitter Morgan Grant (Abingdon, Va.) notched six kills in the set.
E&H dominated the deciding set, outhitting Roanoke .238 (6-1-21) to .000 (6-6-24) to win 15-8. Junior outside hitter Jamie Cockerham (Galax, Va.) put the Wasps on her back and carried the team to the victory as she scored one-third of the team's points in the fifth set (four kills, one service ace) and added four digs as well.
Cockerham led Emory & Henry with 17 kills and added 14 digs to complete the double-double. Junior middle Kimmie Caudill (Galax, Va.) tallied 13 kills while Grant had 12 kills to go along with 16 digs and Tesh added 11 kills. Sophomore setter Fallon Davis (Mooresville, N.C.) dished-out 47 assists to lead all players and added four blocks and senior libero Sam Lucado (Salem, Va.) led the Wasps with 19 digs in front of her hometown crowd.
Roanoke was led by Kelsey Largen with 17 kills and 20 digs while Sarah Long tallied 14 kills of her own. Shannon Stone took care of the setting duties for the Maroons, with 42 assists and adding 20 digs. Mackenzie Allen had 10 digs while Rachel Hawkins recorded seven kills and a match-high five blocks.
The Wasps will return home on Friday evening to take on the Eagles of Bridgewater College as a part of E&H's annual Homecoming weekend. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m.
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