LEXINGTON, Va. -- Virginia Wesleyan College's three-match winning streak in volleyball stalled out Saturday with a pair of 3-0 losses in Washington and Lee University's Warner Center.

The Marlins dropped a 25-9, 25-23, 25-14 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) decision to the host Generals and failed to recover in a 25-11, 25-18, 25-23 non-conference loss to Averett University.  While it was the first time this season that VWC faced W&L, it was the second time to see Averett, a team the Marlins defeated 3-2 just a week ago.

VWC (7-5, 1-1) started very slowly against Washington and Lee (8-2, 2-0), as the Generals bounded into a lead in the first game and never looked back. The Marlins trailed only 9-4 before Washington and Lee ignited a 6-1 run behind Courtney Freudenthal (Glen Allen/Trinity Episcopal) and Maddie Kosar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) to pull away.

The Marlins did come back in the second game however, and led through much of the early going, posting a 15-14 edge on a kill by Alex Lambert (Alexandria/Hayfield). M.A. Boles (Houston, Texas/St. John's) and Mansie Hough (St. Petersburg, Fla./Canterbury School) helped spark the Generals to a 24-19 lead, only to see VWC pull within a 24-23 score on another Lambert kill, with the assist by Kirstin Sessoms (Virginia Beach/Bayside).  After a W&L timeout, Boles ended it with a kill for the 25-23 decison.

Washington and Lee rode the momentum of that win into a 9-2 lead in the third game and held off the Marlins the rest of the way. Virginia Wesleyan closed within six points several times down the stretch, but could not produce a damaging run. 

Virginia Wesleyan never led in the first game against Averett (6-4), and saw matters start to slip away when the Cougars' staged an 8-1 run to open up an 18-7 lead.  The Marlins pulled things together in the second game and wiped out an early deficit to tie the score several times thereafter. Allison Sparks (Ruffin, N.C./Rockingham County) guided Averett into a 20-17 lead and VWC could not catch up.

Averett led most of the third game, but Virginia Wesleyan battled back to tie the score at 22 and 23. A Sparks kill and VWC error gave the Cougars the final points to seal the win.

Lambert led VWC with 22 kills, including 14 against Averett.  Sophomore Marin Crowder (Charlottesville/Western Albemarle) tallied 29 digs, including a match-high 15 against Averett. 

Sparks led Averett with 11 kills and 11 digs. Boles produced 12 kills and 12 digs for Washington and Lee, which received 42 assists from Meghan Meleski (Richmond/Mills Godwin).

Virginia Wesleyan will attempt to return to the winning side of the ledger on Tuesday, Sept. 17, when the Marlins host Eastern Mennonite University (6-5, 2-0) in ODAC competition beginning at 7 p.m.

--AMDG--