ATLANTA, Ga. — Junior outside hitter Allison Webb (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) notched 16 kills on a .433 hitting percentage, but the Washington and Lee volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to fifth-ranked Thomas More in a neutral-site contest at the Emory National Invitational on Saturday.

The Saints (29-3) jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the opening set, but the Generals (18-12) answered with a 10-4 spurt to close to within one, 21-20. After a kill by Thomas More, W&L tied the set with back-to-back kills by sophomore middle blocker Courtney Berry (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albemarle) and junior setter Anna Soroka (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis).

After consecutive attack errors by the Saints, the Blue and White took a 24-22 lead. Thomas More stymied four set-point opportunities over the next eight rallies, but a kill by sophomore outside hitter Brynne Gould (Boone, N.C./Watauga) and an attack error by the Saints allowed W&L to take the set, 28-26.

The two squads went back and forth in the second stanza with Thomas More leading, 21-20, toward the end of the set. The Saints went up 23-20 following a kill and a ball handling error, but a kill by Berry pulled W&L to within two (23-21).

Another kill for Thomas More pushed the lead to 24-21, but then back-to-back errors for the Saints trimmed the margin to one, 24-23. Following a timeout, sophomore outside hitter Carlee Lambert registered a kill to give Thomas More the set, 25-23.

The Saints quickly took a 15-8 lead in the third. A 6-2 run for the Blue and White cut the margin to three (17-14), but Thomas More was able to hang on and close out the set, 25-20. In the fourth, the score was tied, 15-15, but a 5-0 run gave Thomas More a 20-15 lead. W&L answered with a 4-1 spurt to close the gap to two (21-19).

After a kill by first-year middle hitter Julia Popova pushed the margin to 22-19, kills by Berry and senior outside hitter Meg Guignon (St. Louis, Mo./Visitation Academy) brought the Generals to within one, 22-21. The Saints then secured the match by winning three straight points to take the set, 25-21.

Webb needed just 30 swings to total her 16 kills. She also had five blocks and seven digs. Senior outside hitter Elly Cogrove (Wilmington, N.C./John T. Hoggard) recorded 27 digs, while Berry contributed 13 kills on a .320 hitting percentage.

Guignon tallied nine kills and 19 digs, while Soroka added 45 assists and 12 digs. Gould registered 14 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Kiera Borthwick (Northville, Mich./Northville) had five digs, five blocks, three assists and two kills.

The Saints had four players with at least 11 kills. Lambert led the squad with 16 kills, while junior outside hitter Madison Krumpelman and Popova each had 12. Junior middle hitter Jenna Memmert finished the match with 11 kills.

This marked the final contest of the regular season for the Generals. They will be the number two seed in the ODAC Tournament. The quarterfinals begin on Wednesday, and W&L will host seventh-seeded Guilford with the time to be determined.  

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