The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (13-2, 3-0 ODAC) went 2-0 today with a 3-0 win over Albion and a five-set thriller against Stevens.
Game One:
Hannah Smith led the team with 19 kills, a .425 hitting percentage, 19 digs, one service ace, and two block assists,
Alexis Shaw recorded 13 kills, a .258 hitting percentage, two digs, one assist, and one block assist, and
Breana Brooks had two kills and five block assists.
The Britons came out strong and built an 8-5 lead to begin the match. Several points later, the Marlins rallied with a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 12-11. However, Albion responded with a 6-2 run to lead 18-13. A kill from
Madi Schmidt to end the Britons' rally sparked a monster 10-3 run by the Marlins that gave them a 23-21 lead. Each team scored three points but VWU went on to win the set 26-24.
Again, Albion built a substantial 8-3 lead to start the second set. The Marlins came back with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 10-9. Virginia Wesleyan built on this momentum and went on a 10-1 run to take a 20-14 lead, but the Britons responded with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 20-19. The Marlins outscored Albion 5-2 the rest of the second set to win 25-21.
In the third set, the Britons had a 5-2 lead, but VWU came back and was able to tie the game at 7-7. Albion scored back-to-back points to lead 9-7, but the Marlins responded with a 4-0 run to lead 11-9. The two teams traded points until Albion tied the game at 14 all midway through the set, but Virginia Wesleyan countered with a 4-1 run to lead 18-15. Albion fought back and brought the score to 20-19. However, VWU went on a 5-0 run to win the third set 25-19.
Game Two:
Hannah Smith led the offense with 26 kills, 15 digs, four block assists, one assist, and one service ace,
Alexis Shaw tallied a career-best 23 kills, with a .513 hitting percentage, four block assists, and two digs, and
Salena Jones had 38 assists, 12 digs, two service aces, and one kill.
The Ducks scored the first three points of the first set before the Marlins went on a 4-2 run to cut the lead to 5-4. Stevens went on a 4-1 run to increase their lead to 9-5. The two teams traded points until the Marlins went on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 13-12. The Ducks went on a 5-1 run to lead 18-13, but VWU responded with an 8-1 run to lead 20-19. Stevens outscored Virginia Wesleyan a 6-2 run to win set one 25-23.
The Marlins came out and were able to build a 6-3 lead, but the Ducks rallied with a 4-1 run to tie the game a seven all. However, the Marlins responded with a 5-2 run to lead 12-9. Virginia Wesleyan extended their lead with a 4-2 run to lead 16-11 midway through the set. The Ducks countered with a 4-1 run to bring the score to 17-15, but the Marlins went on a 6-1 run to lead 23-16 and went on to win the set 25-17.
In the third set, Stevens came out strong and jumped out to a 7-4 lead. However, the Marlins kicked their offense into gear and went on a 14-1 run to lead 18-8. Virginia Wesleyan went on to win the set 25-11.
With a 2-1 lead, the Marlins had momentum in the fourth set, but Stevens jumped out to another 4-1 lead. VWU responded with a 3-0 run to tie the game at 4-4, but the Ducks came back and went on a 3-1 run to lead 7-5. It was a hard-fought fourth set with both teams not being able to score more than two points in a row until the Ducks went on a 7-2 run to take a 22-18 lead. Stevens went on to win the fourth set 25-21.
The fifth and final set came with Stevens tying the match at 2-2. The Ducks came out winning the first three points, but Virginia Wesleyan scored five straight points to lead 5-3. Stevens tied the game at 5-5, but the Marlins scored the next two points to lead 7-5. The Ducks went on a 4-2 run to take a 10-9 lead, but the Marlins outscored the Ducks 6-2 to win the fifth set 15-12.
