ROANOKE, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (6-1) picked up a pair of wins Friday afternoon at the Hollins University Tournament. The Wasps defeated the Cobras of Virginia Intermont College (3-1) by a 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-22, 25-23) score to start the day and were victorious over Gettysburg College (2-3), 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 33-31, 15-25, 16-14), in a marathon match to cap off the day.
Emory & Henry 3, Virginia Intermont 1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-22, 25-23)
E&H got out to a 4-0 lead in the first set but a seven-point scoring run by VI put the Cobras in the lead, 15-13. The Wasps fought back late in the set and scored three of the last four points to go up 1-0 in the match.
Virginia Intermont took a 10-4 lead in the second set and never looked back, putting together a six-point scoring run to go up 23-13. E&H was able to score three straight points but VI closed out the set 25-17 to tie the match at one.
The Wasps and Cobras battled back and forth during the third frame with neither team ever leading by more than five points. Up 23-18, Emory & Henry held off a rally by Virginia Intermont to go up 2-1.
In the fourth set, it looked as if the Cobras were going to force the match into five, as they got up 14-5 early thanks to a four and five point scoring run. Emory & Henry wouldn't quit, however and was able to claw back and tie the contest at 21. There were another two ties at 22 and 23 but E&H was able to push the final two points to take the victory.
The Wasps were led by senior outside hitter Jamie Cockerham (Galax, Va.) with 13 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore setter Maleah Neely (Hillsville, Va.) also had a double-double with 35 assists and 17 digs. Middles Kim Caudill (Galax, Va.) and Nicole Tesh (Boone, N.C.) each had 10 kills apiece while tesh added a team-high three blocks.
Brandi Blessing paced VI with 13 kills and 14 digs to go along with three blocks while Rachel Bell had 10 kills. Ashley Hooven also tallied a double-double with 29 assists and 13 digs while Tiffany Vu led the Cobras with 17 digs.
Emory & Henry 3, Gettysburg 2 (18-25, 25-21, 33-31, 15-25, 16-14)
In the first set, both teams had runs but the Bullets took advantage of three four-point scoring spurts to pull ahead late and take the first set 25-18.
Gettysburg got up by an 8-2 score in the second frame but Emory & Henry went on a 10-3 run to take a 12-11 lead. With the score tied at 17, E&H went on another run to finish the set as four of the nine points the Wasps scored were kills by Cockerham.
The third set was one for the ages as it featured 14 ties and 10 lead changes. Tesh led the way with seven kills on 12 swings with just one error as the Wasps hit .250 (19-6-52) as a team. Kelly Milione had six kills for the Bullets in the stanza as well. The two teams battled back and forth until Emory & Henry pulled out a 33-31 win.
Gettysburg got back on track in the fourth frame. With the score tied at six, the Bullets reeled off a 12-4 run to go up 18-10. E&H was able to cut the lead to 20-15, but Gettysburg scored the final five points of the set to force the deciding game.
After Emory & Henry scored the first point of set five, Gettysburg went up 5-2 thanks to a 5-1 run. The contest seemed to be in the hands of the Bullets as they were up 11-7, but that's when the Wasps came back. E&H pushed through and scored nine of the next 12 points with Tesh closing the match out with a pair of kills.
Tesh led the Wasps offensively with a career-high 19 kills while Cockerham and Caudill had 18 and 11 kills each. Neely had her second double-double of the afternoon with a match-high 47 assists and 16 digs. Freshman Madison DeBord (Williamsburg, Va.) and junior Kelly Mae Kerlin (Franklin, Tenn.) registered 20 and 17 digs, respectively.
Gettysburg was paced by Sarah Gorski with 15 kills while Milione had 13 and Courtney Cyr added 11 kills. Lizzy Kuhn (22 assists) and Kate DeLess (17 assists) split the setting duties and Katie Wilson led the team with 20 digs.
Emory & Henry will play in the Hollins Invitational on Saturday as well. The Wasps will face Wesleyan (Ga.) College at 10:00 a.m., and Meredith College at 2:00 p.m.
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