The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (25-5, 11-1 ODAC) pushed the #1 Seed Washington & Lee to five sets; losing 26-24, 13-25, 25-20, 21-25, and 12-15.
Hannah Smith led the Marlins with 27 kills, a .317 hitting percentage, and 28 digs. With 27 kills Smith breaks the Single-Season Kills record with a total of 495 in 2024, beating a record that has stood for nine years by Tiffany Barrett in 2015.
Emma Claytor had a fantastic game and tallied 22 kills, with a .286 hitting percentage, 12 digs, six block assists, and one service ace, and teammate
Madi Schmidt had eight kills, 17 digs, three block assists, one solo block, and two assists.
Madeleine Hanes registered a season-best 30 digs, had three assists, and two service aces,
Alexis Shaw had six kills, six block assists, and four dogs, and
Breana Brooks had six kills, five block assists, and two digs.
The setters had a great day as
Salena Jones recorded 30 assists and 16 digs and
Niya Nash also had 30 assists, one kill, one solo block, two block assists, and six digs.
The Marlins started well winning the first two points, but the Generals fought back with a 4-1 run to lead 4-3. VWU responded with a 3-1 run to lead 6-5, but then the Generals went on a big 14-7 run to lead 19-13. Determined to fight back, VWU countered with a 13-5 run to win the first set 26-24.
The Generals bounced back in the second set, as they built a 14-4 lead and continued their dominance extending their lead to 23-9. The Marlins put together a 4-0 run, but W&L scored the next two points to win the set 25-13.
Washington & Lee had the momentum and jumped to an 8-4 lead in set three. However, VWU outscored the host 5-2 to bring the score to 10-9. W&L responded with a 4-2 run to lead 14-11, but the Marlins countered with a 10-2 run to lead 21-16. The Generals went on a 4-1 run to bring the score to 22-20, but the Marlins scored the next three points to win set three 25-20.
In the fourth set, neither team was able to pull away early and the two teams were deadlocked at 10-10. However, the Generals went on an 8-1 run to take an 18-11 lead. VWU chipped away at W&L's lead and outscored them 10-7, but the lead was too great and the Generals won set four 25-21.
The Generals started well in the fourth set and led 4-3 early, but the Marlins rallied and went on a 4-0 run to lead 7-4. The two teams traded the next six points until W&L went on a 7-2 run to win the fifth set 25-12.
