The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team went 2-0 with a 3-0 win over William Peace 25-19, 25-19, and 25-21, and a 3-0 victory over Mary Washington 25-16, 25-19, and 25-19.
Game One:
Hannah Smith led the Marlins with 11 kills a .500 hitting percentage, five service aces, and six digs,
Emma Claytor recorded eight kills a .538 hitting percentage, one solo block, one block assist, and two digs, and
Alexis Shaw had eight kills a .353 hitting percentage, one solo block, one block assist, and three digs.
Salena Jones led the team with 21 assists, had one service ace, and one dig and teammate
Madi Schmidt led the team with ten digs, and registered five kills.
The start of set one was close, with neither team leading by more than one point until, VWU went on a 4-1 run to lead 11-8. Then, the Pacers went on a 2-0 run, and the Marlins responded with an 11-2 run to take a 22-12 lead. WPU fought back with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 22-17, but VWU went on to win set one 25-19.
Virginia Wesleyan started strong in the second set, jumping to a 10-5 lead over the Pacers. The Marlins kept the pressure on going on a 9-3 run to lead 19-9. William Peace went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 19-15, but VWU countered with a 4-0 run to lead 23-15. The Pacers outscored the Marlins 4-2, but the Pacers late surge was too late and the Marlins won set two 25-19.
In the third set, VWU came out strong with a 6-1 run to take the lead. The Pacers chipped away at the Marlins' lead and widdled it down to 13-11. After the two teams traded points, the Marlins went on a 4-1 run to lead 21-16. The Pacers came back outscoring VWU 5-2 to cut the lead to 23-21, however, the Marlins closed the door winning the next two points to win the third set 25-21.
Game Two:
Hannah Smith led the Marlins with 12 kills a .229 hitting percentage, three service aces, one solo block, one block assist, and led the team with 14 digs,
Alexis Shaw registered nine kills a .208 hitting percentage, one solo block, and one dig, and
Emma Claytor recorded six kills a .222 hitting percentage, one assist, one service ace, one solo block, two block assists, and four digs.
Salena Jones led the team with 19 assists, had two service aces, and two digs, and
Jada Foster at libero had 12 digs, two assists, and one service ace.
Virginia Wesleyan started off well going on an 11-3 run to start the first set. The Eagles responded with a 3-0 run to bring the score to 11-6, but the Marlins responded with a 7-2 run to lead 17-8. VWU kept a healthy lead the rest of the set and went on to win set one 25-16.
The Marlins went up 4-1 at the start of the second set, but the Eagles countered with a 5-2 run to tie the game at 6-6. The Marlins won the next rally, but that sparked a 9-2 Mary Washington run that put them up 15-9. VWU stopped the run with a 4-2 run, that shifted the momentum as they went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-17 lead late in set two. VWU outscored the Eagles 3-2 and won the second set 25-19.
In the third set, VWU went up 5-1 early to set the tone for the rest of the set. This would be crucial as both teams traded points without any significant runs. Midway through the set the Marlins inched away with a 3-1 run to lead 10-5. However, the Eagles came back with a 4-2 run to cut the lead to 14-11. Near the end of the set the Marlins held a 22-17 lead, but back-to-back points by the Eagles brought the score to 22-19. However, VWU won the next three rallies and won the set 25-19.
