LEXINGTON, Va. - The Washington and Lee University volleyball team defeated the University of Mary Washington 3-1 in a non-conference contest on Saturday afternoon.
The Generals (15-9) celebrated senior day with sets of 25-16, 25-19, 25-12 after dropping the opening set to the Eagles (20-7) 21-25.
The seniors led the way with Maggie McSwain (Atlanta, Ga. / Westminster),
Ashley Webb (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Westlake) and
Caroline Gard (Naperville, Ill. / Benet Academy) having strong performances to lift the Blue and White over UMW.
McSwain tied a career high blocks for her, recording seven blocks, including four in the final set and four solo blocks on the day. Webb notched 37 assists, marking her eighth straight contest recording 30+ assists and Gard dug out 25 balls and added eight assists.
Through the first set, the lead changed hands five times and the score was tied on nine occasions. W&L made a five-point run to tie the contest up 12-12 before the Eagles put in a 5-0 run of their own to jump out ahead 20-16. The two teams would swap the next ten points and UMW took the initial set 25-21.
At the side change, the next set was a different story, Washington and Lee strung together a pair of points six times to double up on the Eagles, 12-6 and would not relinquish the lead. The two squads split 10 errors but the Generals rallied behind 14 kills, a .750 sideout percentage (12-of-16) and a .281 attack percentage to tie up the count 1-1.
Set three was a bit more competitive, similar to the opening series. Both teams were able to go on multi-point runs with the Generals opening the game with five straight points but the Eagles collected themselves after a timeout and went on a 6-1 stretch to lead 17-16. Senior hitter, McSwain and setter, Webb paired up to take the tying point. With Webb at the service line, the Blue and White extended out to 22-17 lead and won 25-19 to take a 2-1 set advantage.
The fourth and deciding set was highlighted by a monumental 12-0 run. The Generals built up a 16-3 advantage despite multiple attempts from the Eagles' coaching staff to collect their players and try to right the flight path during a pair of timeouts during the stretch. Sydney Heifner (Nashville, Tenn. / Harpeth Hall), who had a match-high 19 kills, put the ball in the entire run, and the Blue and White benefited from eight visitor errors. In addition to the Eagles' miscues, the Generals were efficient in the final stanza, and recorded 13 kills on 36 attempts for a .306 attack game and sided out on 9-of-12 opportunities.
Washington and Lee will return to ODAC action on Wednesday at Bridgewater for a 6:30 p.m. contest.
-- Go Generals --
