LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Lynchburg College Volleyball Team (12-10, 5-3 ODAC) picked up a 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 33-31, 25-17) win over visiting Emory & Henry College (15-9, 4-4 ODAC) Friday evening at Turner Gymnasium in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action. The Wasps saw their season-best seven-match winning streak snapped at the hands of the Hornets.

LC got out to 10-4 lead early in the first set and pushed its advantage to 17-6 with a 7-2 run. Emory & Henry scored four out of five points later in the frame to reduce the deficit to under 10, but Lynchburg finished strong for the 25-15 win and 1-0 lead in the match as it attacked at a .565 (15-2-23) clip for the set.

Emory & Henry responded in the second set to tie the score, 1-1. Things were close early on, but the Wasps slowly made their move and earned a 16-11 advantage. LC pushed back to close the gap to two at 18-16, but E&H took back control and went on to win the set on a big kill by sophomore outside hitter Tristen Pennington (Kingsport, Tenn.).

The third stanza had the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster as it featured 15 ties and six lead changes. The two teams blazed past the normal 25-point victory standard and went all the way to 33-31 with Lynchburg taking the 2-1 lead in the match. There were eight different set points before the Hornets finally outlasted the Wasps.

Lynchburg used its momentum from the third set to start things out 6-1 in the fourth. Emory & Henry battled back to close the gap to 11-9, but a big run by the Hornets gave them a 20-10 lead late. The Wasps attempted to claw their way back in, making the score 23-17, but the margin was too much to overcome as LC earned the 25-17 set win and sealed the match.

Ariquel Payne led all players with 19 kills and added 11 digs for Lynchburg while Jennifer Garrett and Amanda Perry notched 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Mackenzie Ross dished out 24 assists as she shared the setting duties with Gabby Myers (13 assists). Sam Page notched a match-high 18 digs from her libero position.

Emory & Henry was paced by Pennington's 14 kills and 10 digs while senior setter Maleah Neely (Hillsville, Va.) had 31 assists and 10 digs to notch a double-double as well. Sophomore middle Kennady Thomason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had eight kills while senior middle Anika Constantinescu (Surrey, British Columbia, CANADA), sophomore right side hitter Hannah Doss (Meadowview, Va.) and freshman outside hitter Ali Singleton (Mount Jackson, Va.) each chipped in six kills.

Emory & Henry will remain on the road tomorrow when it faces off against Randolph College at 1:00 p.m., in ODAC action.

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