EMORY, Va. - The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (14-8, 5-4 ODAC) picked up an important Old Dominion Athletic Conference win on Wednesday evening as the Wasps defeated the WildCats of Randolph College (11-11, 2-7 ODAC). With the win, E&H has guaranteed itself a spot in the 2011 ODAC Tournament.
Emory & Henry and Randolph battled back and forth in the first set with neither side getting more than a four-point advantage the entire way. Down 17-14, the Wasps scored seven of the next eight points to take a 21-18 lead. E&H would hold on for the win to go up 1-0 in the match.
E&H made the set score 2-0 after the second frame thanks to two serving runs by senior defensive specialist Selena Trichel (Hilton Head, S.C.). Trichel served for a six-point stretch late in the stanza that took the Wasps from a 17-17 tie to a 23-17 advantage.
Randolph showed life in the third set, closing the gap to 2-1, as the period saw 14 ties and six lead changes. The Wasps led by two points late, but the WildCats scored eight of the last 11 points to force another set.
Emory & Henry battled back from being down in the fourth stanza. With the score 11-6 in favor of Randolph, E&H scored eight of the next nine points to go up 14-12. The Wasps also went on a six-point run late in the set on senior libero Sam Lucado's (Salem, Va.) serve to lead 21-15 and held on for the 25-19 set win and the match.
Junior outside hitter Jamie Cockerham (Galax, Va.) led the Wasps offensively as she tied her season high of 21 kills, hitting .333 (21-6-45) for the match, and added 13 digs. Sophomore middle Nicole Tesh (Boone, N.C.) tied her career-high with 16 kills on the night and led all players with three service aces.
Junior outside hitter Morgan Grant (Abingdon, Va.) had 11 kills and 12 digs on the night while sophomore setter Fallon Davis (Mooresville, N.C.) dished out 46 assists. Lucado and Trichel had 18 and 10 digs, respectively for E&H.
Randolph was paced by Jordan Templin with 14 kills and Shana Nelson registered 11 kills for the match. Kerry McMichael tallied 33 assists while Lexi Harrington and Katherine Lesnak each notched 11 digs.
Emory & Henry will travel to Lookout Mountain, Ga. tomorrow for a 6:30 p.m. match against Covenant College.
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