ATLANTA, Ga. — Senior outside hitter Elly Cosgrove (Wilmington, N.C./John T. Hoggard) recorded the 1,000th dig of her career, but the Washington and Lee volleyball team lost to Birmingham-Southern, 3-1, on Friday at the Emory National Invitational.

The Generals (18-10) were the first team to 22 points in three of the four sets, but only came away with one set victory. In the first, W&L led, 20-16, but the Panthers (21-5) answered with four straight points to tie the score, 20-20.

The Blue and White notched three of the next four points (23-21), capped on a service ace by junior outside hitter Ashleigh Meade (Bristow, Va./Patriot), but then three consecutive attack errors by W&L gave BSC a 24-23 edge.

The Blue and White fought off three set points and the Panthers stymied one over the next seven rallies. The teams were tied, 27-27, following a kill by senior outside hitter Meg Guignon (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy), but BSC claimed the set, 29-27, after a ball handling error on W&L and a block by junior middle blocker Julia Denby.

The Generals fell behind, 2-0, in the contest after the Panthers won the second, 25-19. In the third, W&L led, 22-17, but BSC claimed six straight points to take a 23-22 advantage. After calling timeout, the Blue and White won three straight rallies, including a kill by junior outside hitter Allison Webb (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) on the third point to take the set, 25-23.

In the fourth, the Generals again held a lead late in the set, 23-21, but Birmingham-Southern tallied back-to-back kills to tie the score (23-23). A kill by Guignon gave W&L a 24-23 advantage, but a kill by senior outside hitter Jeneva Salter evened the stanza, 24-24.

The Panthers had two opportunities for match point over the next four rallies, but the Blue and White fought off each, tying the score, 26-26, following a kill by Guignon.

Throughout the next nine rallies each team had multiple chances to close out the set, with the Generals final opportunity coming after an ace by Meade to gain a one-point edge, 31-30. BSC countered the ace with three straight kills to win the set, 33-31, and take the match, 3-1.

Guignon led the team with 19 kills and registered a double-double with 18 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Brynne Gould (Boone, N.C./Watauga) had 14 kills and four digs, and Webb totaled 10 kills and four blocks.

Cosgrove recorded 22 digs and now has 1,021 in her career. She is just the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 digs.

Sophomore middle blocker Courtney Berry (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albemarle) had nine kills on 17 attempts (.471 hitting percentage) and tallied three blocks. Meade registered 12 digs, three aces and four kills. Junior setter Anna Soroka (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) tallied 49 assists and eight digs.

Salter led the Panthers with 25 kills on a .311 hitting percentage. Denby had 16 kills on 27 swings (.481 hitting percentage) and six blocks. Junior libero Caroline Johnson totaled 23 digs, and junior outside hitter Milea Ray recorded 26 digs and 10 kills.

The Generals return to action on Saturday at the Emory Invitational. W&L will face eighth-ranked Emory at 10:30 am and take on fifth-ranked Thomas More at 12:30 pm. Those will be the final matches of the regular season for the Blue and White.

-- www.generalssports.com --