LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee University Volleyball Team (9-4, 4-0 ODAC) withstood a furious rally by Emory & Henry College (4-7, 0-2 ODAC) Wednesday evening to earn a 3-2 (25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 21-25, 15-8) victory in Old Dominion Athletic Conference play at the Warner Center.
The Generals got out to a 1-0 lead in the match thanks to a strong start in the first set. W&L started off with a 13-6 lead and pushed the margin to 20-10, but Emory & Henry scored seven of the next nine points to close the gap to 22-17. Washington and Lee then scored three points in a row to close out the set.
In the second frame, the two teams battled early but a five-point run by W&L made it 11-8. The Wasps got within two at 17-15, but a five-point run by the Generals put the set out of reach as they won, 25-18.
Emory & Henry got itself back in the match in the third set. Down by a 12-10 margin, the Wasps reeled off five-straight points to go up 15-12 and added a three-point run later in the stanza to lead 22-18. E&H made the match score 2-1 on a kill by freshman middle Kate Franklin (Blountville, Tenn.), winning the set 25-22.
In the fourth frame, the Wasps attacked at a .238 (14-4-42) mark, besting the Generals by nearly .200 points (10-7-46; .065) to tie the match at two sets each. With the score tied at 10, Emory & Henry scored five straight to go up 15-10 and later reeled off seven of eight points to lead 23-19. A kill by Franklin and a block by junior outside hitter Tristen Pennington (Kingsport, Tenn.) forced the fifth and deciding set.
W&L took a 5-1 lead early in the fifth, but Emory & Henry scored the next two points to make it 5-3. The Generals rebooted and scored six of the next eight for a 11-5 lead and closed the match out, scoring their final three points on kills by Anna Lausburg to win the set, 15-8, and the match, 3-2.
Lausburg paced the Generals' offense with 19 kills and added 14 digs for the double-double. Meg Guignon also recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs while Mackenzie Shand notched 12 kills and five blocks. Elena West dished out 44 assists and 15 digs while Katie Volk led all players with 21 digs and four service aces.
Emory & Henry was led offensively by Pennington, who had 11 kills, 14 digs and four blocks. Junior right-side hitter Hannah Doss (Meadowview, Va.) notched 10 kills, 17 digs and three blocks while junior middle Kennady Thomason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) added eight kills and four blocks. Franklin, sophomore outside hitter Ali Singleton (Mount Jackson, Va.) and freshman outside hitter Tori Holmberg (Wake Forest, N.C.) each contributed six kills with Franklin and Holmberg adding four and three blocks, respectively.
Sophomore setter Sarah Scott (Collinsville, Va.) had a team-high 20 assists while freshman Sam McCauley (Glade Spring, Va.) chipped in 15 assists and 14 digs. Junior libero Emily Hinshaw (Boone, N.C.) collected 15 digs and two service aces for the Wasps as well.
Emory & Henry attacked at a .194 (48-17-160) percentage for the match compared to .174 (56-27-167) for Washington and Lee. The Wasps had a total of 11 blocks in the match, but missed 15 serves.
E&H will return home on Saturday for a tri-match with Eastern Mennonite University and West Virginia University Tech. The Wasps will take on the Royals in ODAC action at 11:00 a.m., while EMU and WVU Tech will play at 1:00 p.m. Emory & henry will face the Golden Bears in the final match of the day at 3:00 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15