NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Washington and Lee University volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker after clawing back from a 2-0 deficit to force five sets (25-20, 26-24, 24-26, 14-25, 15-13) against regional rival Christopher Newport University on Thursday night.

In the non-conference contest, the Captains (6-4) took the first two sets, but the Generals (4-6) were not ready to pack up the bus and pushed the night to five sets for just the fifth time in the 35-match series history. 

The Blue and White found momentum, kicking off the third set with a 6-2 lead. CNU eventually found its footing, tying the set at 6-all. The two teams broke off ties on eight separate occasions as the frame progressed. Trailing 24-21, Allie Buchholz (Portland, Ore. / Jesuit) served out the final five points of the set. She assisted on two kills, forcing a CNU timeout. After the break, W&L benefited from two host attacking errors and a kill from Emery Goerig (College Station, Texas / College Station) to rally the team into set four and reverse the 26-24 outcome of the prior set.

A shift in energy was noticed in the Freeman Center as the Generals continued their rally behind Sydney Heifner (Nashville, Tenn. / Harpeth Hall), who smashed a match-high 18 kills, to take the fourth set. The women separated themselves from the Captains with a 7-2 lead to open up the fourth including five straight kills from the Blue and White. WLU earned as much as a 12 point lead, forcing CNU to use both of its timeouts, but the breaks could not stop the Generals' momentum. W&L used 16 kills at .279 attack percentage to post a 25-14 victory, tying the match at two sets a piece. 

The final set favored the Captains with five of the first six points, which gave the hosts a distinct advantage nearing the mid-way point. The Generals were able to tie up the set six additional times, including twice after the 8-point swap, but a three-point stretch gave the set-winning lead to CNU. 
Washington and Lee recorded two straight points off CNU attack errors, which brought the score within one at 14-13. After a quick home team timeout, CNU came out on top of an epic set-point rally between, which ended on a Generals attack error. 

Heifner, who is second in the nation with 438 total attacks, led Washington and Lee with a stat line of 18 kills and 22 digs. Setter Ashley Webb (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Westlake) posted a team leading 31 assists and three service aces. Defensive specialist Caroline Gard (Naperville, Ill. / Benet Academy) recorded 25 digs. 
The two teams split 16 aces and 122 total kills. CNU had the advantage on the net notching 15 blocks compared to the Generals six. 

CNU has won seven consecutive matches against W&L but have a slight 20-15 advantage in the storied matchup history. The Generals last defeated CNU in 2013, a 3-1 win in Newport News. Tonight's 5-set match marks the sixth time the Generals have gone the distance this season, by comparison, W&L only played in three 5-set contests in the entire 2021 season.

The Generals return to action Tuesday, September 20. The team will travel north on I-81 to Eastern Mennonite for a conference matchup at 6:30 p.m.

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