EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (10-8, 2-3 ODAC) picked up a 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22) win over Roanoke College (13-7, 2-3 ODAC) Thursday evening in Old Dominion Athletic Conference play at the John Rutledge King Center.

The first set was back-and-forth through its early stages, featuring six ties and three lead changes. With the score tied at 10, Emory & Henry slowly gained momentum was able to finish the stanza scoring eight of the final nine points.

In the second frame, the two teams battled from the start but a six-point scoring run by Roanoke gave it a 15-9 advantage. The Wasps closed the gap to 15-12 with three points in a row but the Maroons responded with the next four points to go up 19-12. E&H would get no closer than six the rest of the way as RC went on to win the second set, 25-19.

Emory & Henry came out strong in the third stanza, leading 7-2. Roanoke bounced back to draw the score within one at 14-13, but the Wasps took the reins late, scoring nine of the set's last 12 points for another 25-17 win.

E&H sealed the victory in the fourth set thanks in part to a seven-point serving run by freshman outside hitter Ali Singleton (Mount Jackson, Va.). The Wasps scored four points in a row later in the frame and led 20-14 before the Maroons closed the gap to 22-20. The two teams jousted for the advantage in the closing points, but Emory & Henry's lead was too much for Roanoke to overcome.

The Wasps were led by sophomore outside hitter Tristen Pennington (Kingsport, Tenn.) with 12 kills and 13 digs. Senior middle Anika Constantinescu (Surrey, British Columbia, CANADA) and sophomore middle Kennady Thomason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had 10 kills each while Thomason added six blocks in the contest. Senior setter Maleah Neely (Hillsville, Va.) notched 40 assists while sophomore libero Emily Hinshaw (Boone, N.C.) added 18 digs.

Roanoke's Brooke Bostwick had a match-high 13 kills while Macey Tyree registered seven kills and 18 digs. Jessica Block had 19 assists as the Maroons split the setting duties while Ryan Hedgepeth chipped in 15 digs.

As a team, E&H hit .168 (46-21-149) and tallied eight service aces and eight blocks. Roanoke, on the other hand, attacked at just a .100 (43-27-160) clip. The Maroons had four aces and six blocks.

Emory & Henry will next take the court on Wednesday, October 8 when it travels Shenandoah University. First serve between the Wasps and Hornets is set for 7:00 p.m.

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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15