MONTGOMERY, W.Va. – The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team (2-4) picked up a 3-2 ((25-17, 26-25, 13-25, 21-25, 15-13) non-conference win over West Virginia University Tech (5-7) Wednesday evening. With the victory, the Wasps have won two of their last three matches.
The Basics
FINAL SCORE –Emory & Henry 3, West Virginia Tech 2 (25-17, 26-24, 13-25, 21-25, 15-13)
LOCATION – Montgomery, W.Va. – Neal Baisi Athletic Center
RECORDS – Emory & Henry (2-4, 0-0 ODAC); West Virginia Tech (5-7)
How It Happened
- Emory & Henry jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first and slowly built its lead to as much as11 to take the first set 25-17.
- The second frame was closer from start to finish and with the teams tied at 20 points each, WVU Tech scored three straight to take control. E&H pushed back and ended up with the 26-24 win to go up 2-0 in the match.
- The third set was all WVU Tech and after going up 10-3 to get things started, the Golden Bears scored eight of the final 10 points of the stanza for a 25-13 win.
- The fourth frame saw the Wasps battle back, and despite trailing 14-6, E&H rallied to lead, 20-19, late. West Virginia Tech finished on a 6-1 run to force the fifth, and deciding, set with a 25-21 victory.
- After trading points back and forth early, the Golden Bears took an 11-6 advantage. E&H score d three in a row to cut it to two and held strong to take the set and the match with a 15-13 win.
Emory & Henry Individual Leaders
- Freshman middle Sydney McKinney (Big Stone Gap, Va.) posted a team-high 16 kills, attacking with a .464 percentage (16-3-28) to lead the offense.
- Senior middle Kennady Thomason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had 11 kills, four blocks and an ace, hitting .409 (11-2-22) in the process.
- Junior right-side hitter Ali Singleton (Mount Jackson, Va.) notched 11 kills, four digs and two blocks while senior outside hitter Tristen Pennington (Kingsport, Tenn.) tallied six kills and 14 digs.
- Sophomore setter Sam McCauley (Glade Spring, Va.) finished with 16 assists and six digs while freshman setter Abigail Smiley (Abingdon, Va.) dished out 15 assists and added four aces and four digs.
- Freshman defensive specialist Peyton Dotson (Abingdon, Va.) had a team-high 18 digs.
West Virginia Tech Individual Leaders
- Bailey Lotozo notched 23 kills on 58 attempts to lead all players and pitched in 13 digs to complete the double-double.
- Konstantina Pateli registered 40 assists, 12 digs, six kills and five service aces on the evening.
- Michala Dean put up a match-high 20 digs while Keyonna Morrow added nine kills to the Golden Bears' credit.
A Deeper Look
- Emory & Henry attacked at just a .166 average for the match but put it together when it was most necessary, going .308 (11-3-26) in the opening set and closing things out with a 7-1-22 (.273) performance in the fifth.
- West Virginia Tech hit .156 (52-28-154) for the match, struggling offensively except during their one-sided third-set victory.
- The Wasps led in blocks by a 9-3 margin, while service aces went to the Golden Bears, 9-7.
Up Next
- Emory & Henry will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina on Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Greensboro Invitational.
- The Wasps will face off against Piedmont College (2:00 p.m.) and Elizabeth City State University (6:00 p.m.) on Saturday.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15