RALEIGH, Va. — Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Heifner (Nashville, Tenn./Harpeth Hall) totaled a career-high 20 kills to lead the Washington and Lee volleyball team to a 3-1 season-opening win at William Peace on Wednesday.
 
The Generals (1-0) cruised to a 25-17 win in the first led by six kills from Heifner on 10 swings (.600 hitting percentage). For the set, W&L hit .469 with 15 kills on 32 swings with no errors.
 
In the second, W&L led 4-1, and the Pacers (0-1) responded with 12 straight points to assume a 13-4 advantage. The Blue and White answered by winning nine consecutive rallies to tie the stanza, 13-13.
 
The two squads were tied, 18-18, later in the set, and then a 5-1 spurt pushed the Generals in front by four (23-19) en route to a 25-21 win. Trailing 16-13 in the third , William Peace went on a 12-4 run to claim the set, 25-20.
 
The score was tied, 6-6, in the fourth, but a kill by senior middle blocker Katy Blain (West Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School) ignited a 7-0 run to give the Blue and White a 13-6 lead on its way to winning the set, 25-11, and the match, 3-1.
 
Heifner registered her 20 kills on 51 total swings. She also had 14 digs. First-year outside hitter Avery Myers (New York, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day School) tallied 16 kills and 17 digs in her first collegiate match. Senior right side Carson Allsteadt (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) added a career-high 11 kills and seven digs.
 
Junior setter Ashley Webb (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) registered a career-best 45 assists and 17 digs. Junior defensive specialist Caroline Gard (Naperville, Ill./Benet Academy) had 16 digs and seven assists, and Blain contributed eight kills on a .615 hitting percentage and four blocks.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Collier led the Pacers with 14 kills and 11 digs. Junior setter Logan Moore had 18 digs and 45 assists, and sophomore defensive specialist Hannah Ward chipped in 16 digs.
 
The victory marks the 17th straight for W&L dating back to the first match of last season on March 13. The 17 consecutive wins are the most for the program since also claiming 17 straight victories during the 2014 season.
 
The Generals return to action of Friday at the Averett Cougar Invitational. W&L takes on North Carolina Wesleyan at 12:00 pm and then Averett at 4:00 pm.