BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The third-seeded Bridgewater College Volleyball Team (18-14) advanced to the semifinals of the 2012 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament with a convincing win over Emory & Henry College (17-11) Wednesday evening at Nininger Hall. The Eagles took down the #6 Wasps by set scores of 25-7, 25-21 and 25-19.

With the win, Bridgewater will face Washington and Lee University on Saturday morning in the tournament semifinals.

In the opening set, the Eagles got out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. E&H was able to close the gap to 9-3 on a kill by senior outside hitter Jamie Cockerham (Galax, Va.) but BC went on another 7-0 run to put the frame solidly in its hands as they went on to win 25-7. Cockerham's first kill set a new Emory & Henry record for kills in a career. The new career top mark is 905 kills.

In the second stanza, the two squads battled back and forth to a 15-15 tie. Bridgewater was then able to get a slight advantage thanks to a five-point scoring run which would be the difference in the set. The Wasps and Eagles were able to side-out one another's serves through the closing moments of the second frame as BC went up 2-0 with a 25-21 win.

The third set was much like the second as Emory & Henry hung in until late. The Eagles held a slim lead throughout the majority of the stanza but the Wasps knotted things up at 15-15. Bridgewater then extended its lead to 21-17 thanks to a 6-2 run and held on to win the set and the match, 25-19.

Katie Long led the Eagles offensively with 17 kills on 35 attempts (.314 attack percentage) while Bethany Doman and Megann Grimes added eight and seven kills apiece. Lindsay Kallam dished-out a match-high 21 assists and added seven digs with Doman posting a match-high 10 digs in the match.

Emory & Henry was led by junior middle Nicole Tesh (Boone, N.C.) with a .370 hitting percentage as she tallied 12 kills and added three blocks and a service ace.  Senior middle Kim Caudill (Galax, Va.) had five kills and two blocks while Cockerham ended the day with four kills and nine digs. Sophomore setter Maleah Neely (Hillsville, Va.) registered 17 assists to lead the Wasps.

E&H will await the announcement of the 2012 All-ODAC Teams which will come on Saturday with the conclusion of the league tournament.

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