ATLANTA, Ga. — Despite losing the three sets by just a combined nine points, the Washington and Lee volleyball team fell to ninth-ranked Berry, 3-0, on Friday in a neutral-site contest at the Emory National Invitational.
 
The Generals (23-7) fell behind, 11-5, in the opening set. The Vikings (22-4) led, 21-16, later in the first, but a 3-0 run, capped on back-to-back kills by junior outside hitter Brynne Gould (Boone, N.C./Watauga), pulled W&L to within two (21-19). Berry answered by winning four of the final six points to take the set, 25-21.
 
In the second, the Blue and White opened with a 6-1 spurt, but the Vikings won 11 of the next 12 points to assume a 12-7 advantage. The lead was 19-10 a handful of points later, but a 7-0 run by the Generals trimmed the deficit to 19-17. Down 22-20, W&L recorded three straight kills, with junior outside hitter Leah Green (Longwood, Fla./Lake Highland Preparatory School) tallying the third to put the Generals in front, 23-22.
 
Berry regrouped and registered its own 3-0 run to win the set, 25-23. The teams were tied, 22-22, late in the third, but again the Vikings ended the set on a 3-0 run to win the stanza, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
 
Gould and junior middle blocker Courtney Berry (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albemarle) each had eight kills. Gould also had six digs, while Courtney Berry totaled two blocks. Green finished with seven kills.
 
First-year defensive specialist Caroline Gard (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) notched a team-high 21 digs. She now has 495 digs this year, which is the seventh-most in a single season in program history. First-year setter Ashley Webb (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) totaled 25 assists and seven digs.
 
First-year outside hitter Peyton Breissinger registered a match-high 15 kills to pace Berry. Sophomore libero Laura Beier had 29 digs, and senior setter Jordan Leitch notched 38 assists, eight digs and four kills.
 
The Generals return to action on Saturday against Birmingham Southern at 9:00 am, and then face second-ranked Emory at 3:00 pm.