EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (15-8, 4-3 ODAC) made it seven wins in a row with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-10) win over Bridgewater College (6-18, 2-5 ODAC) Wednesday evening at the John Rutledge King Center. It was the first time since October 2, 2004 that the Wasps have defeated the Eagles.

The match also served as Emory & Henry's annual Dig Pink night in support of the Side-Out Foundation and breast cancer research and awareness. Before the match started, the team had already raised over $1,000 of their $1,400 goal to donate to the cause.

The two squads battled back and forth for the first portion of the opening set to a 10-10 tie. Emory & Henry went up 15-11 but Bridgewater battled back to tie things up at 19 points each. The Wasps found themselves down 23-22 but scored the final three points of the frame to claim the 25-23 win.

The early part of the second stanza looked nearly identical to the first. With the score tied at 10, E&H reeled off four straight points but BC later closed the gap to 18-17, forcing the Wasps to call a timeout. Emory & Henry regrouped and scored six of the next eight points, pushing through for a 2-0 lead in the match.

E&H's offense finally began to click in the third set as the team hit .379 (14-3-29). The Wasps went up 6-1 and never looked back. Up 10-8, the Wasps scored 15 of the final 17 points of the match for a 25-10 win in the third set and the overall victory.

The Wasps were led by senior setter Maleah Neely (Hillsville, Va.) with 30 assists, 18 digs, three kills and four service aces. Sophomore right side hitter Hannah Doss (Meadowview, Va.) had 13 kills and nine digs while senior middle Anika Constantinescu (Surrey, British Columbia, CANADA) and sophomore outside hitter Tristen Pennington (Kingsport, Tenn.) chipped in seven kills each. Pennington also added 13 digs and three aces.

Bridgewater was paced by Abby Mills and Megann Grimes with eight kills each while Grimes added five blocks on the night. Shannon Skellchock had 25 assists and nine digs while Chelsea Owensby tallied 18 digs.

Emory & Henry will travel to the Hill City of Lynchburg, Virginia for a pair of Old Dominion Athletic Conference matches this weekend. Friday will pit the Wasps and the Hornets of Lynchburg College together at 7:00 p.m. Saturday E&H will take on Randolph College at 1:00 p.m.

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