VIRGINIA BEACH -- Emory & Henry College's Wasps appeared to have gained a second win in Saturday's second set of an Old Dominion Athletic Conference volleyball match at Virginia Wesleyan College.

But, that wind turned out to be a momentary sigh of relief.

Virginia Wesleyan remained calm when the visiting Wasps played their way into a six-point lead midway through that second set, reaching that 20-point plateau ahead of the Marlins.  What seemed to be a path to the set win hit a huge roadblock however, when senior Lindsey Spears (Virginia Beach/Ocean Lakes), junior Erin Paton (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch), sophomore Kala Guy (Fishersville, Va./Wilson Memorial) (left) and rookie Tempe Martens (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) all came through with big plays and points for Virginia Wesleyan.

The Marlins whittled away at the spread until they eventually tied the score and then pushed ahead to win a 25-23 thriller.  That impressive comeback by the Marlins not only took away that second wind for E&H, but also knocked the Wasps for a loop the rest of the way.  Virginia Wesleyan dominated the third set for a 25-12 victory and the match win.  The Marlins won the opening set 25-22.

The victory capped a solid 3-0 week for the Marlins, who also won two road matches, winning 3-0 at Eastern Mennonite University in a conference match, and 3-1 at the University of Mary Washington, a non-conference match that saw the Marlins hand the Eagles only their third loss in 12 outings.  VWC is now 2-0 in the ODAC and 7-2 overall.

Guy turned in the most consistent effort against E&H, recording 11 kills, a team-leading 12 digs, and a career-high six aces.  Spears contributed with a team-leading 12 kills and senior Marissa Wood (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) finished with 30 assists and seven digs.  Paton also recorded seven digs.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Wednesday, Sept. 22, playing at Randolph College in an ODAC contest beginning at 6:30 p.m.

--AMDG--