HARRISONBURG, Va. - The Washington and Lee University women's volleyball team secured their fifth-straight win on Tuesday night as they defeated Eastern Mennonite University in straight sets inside Yoder Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED (W&L, 3-0 | 25-12, 25-17, 25-10)
- The Generals (15-2, 7-1 ODAC) opened the first set on a 5-1 run, which featured a pair of kills from Stephanie Lynch, one from Grace Mitchener and a service ace from Emma Mulvaney. The Royals (5-11, 2-5 ODAC) battled back, cutting W&L's lead to two with three unanswered points before the Blue and White used another 5-1 scoring stretch to take a 13-7 advantage. The run featured kills from Ava Fugitt, Mulvaney and Cara Hamil, a service ace from Mitchener while Sienna Nichoson and Claire Hargett stuffed an Ella Lambert attack. W&L followed with five unanswered points to extend its lead to 18-8, forcing an EMU timeout. Hargett fueled the run with three kills, while Mulvaney added one. A pair of attack errors and another service ace from Mulvaney pushed the Generals' lead to 12 before a kill from Fugitt and a block from Charlotte Laquis and Fugitt secured the 25-12 opening-set victory.
- Both teams traded points to open the second set, with the Royals holding a 4-2 advantage following a kill from Lindsay Bly. Three consecutive attack errors by EMU gave the Generals a 7-6 lead before the Royals rattled off three unanswered points to reclaim a two-point advantage. A 5-1 scoring stretch from the Blue and White put them back in front, fueled by a block from Fugitt and Mitchener and four errors by the Royals. Another 4-1 run extended W&L's lead to 16-12, highlighted by kills from Hamil and Lynch. Both teams traded points before the Generals closed the second frame on a 7-2 run to secure a 25-17 victory. Mulvaney recorded a kill, while Mitchener added a service ace as the Royals committed five errors during the final stretch.
- W&L opened the third set on a 7-2 run, which featured a kill from Lynch and a block from the duo of Mitchener and Fugitt. Following a block by the Royals, the Generals rattled off a 9-1 scoring stretch to take a commanding 16-4 lead. The run featured a pair of service aces from Mitchener, one from Vivi Vasquez and kills from Ava Gaines and Hamil. Both teams traded points before the Blue and White scored five unanswered points to extend their lead to 22-6. Mulvaney recorded a service ace, while Lynch and Mitchener teamed up for a block during the stretch. Both teams continued to trade points, with the Generals maintaining their sizable advantage before an attack error by Reese Fitton secured W&L's 13th sweep of the season.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Lynch led the Blue and White with five kills on nine attempts for an impressive .556 hitting percentage. Lindsay Bly and Haley Atkins paced the Royals with five kills each.
- Cristina Colon dished out a match-high 13 assists for the Royals while adding five digs. Sienna Nichoson led the Generals with 12 assists, four digs and one block.
- Mitchener and Mulvaney each recorded a match-high four service aces, while Mitchener added a match-high five blocks, including one solo stop, three kills and nine digs. Fugitt registered four block assists and three kills, while Atkins and Alyssa Carr led the Royals with one solo block each. Emerson Moats recorded EMU's lone service ace.
- Mulvaney led all players with 14 digs, while three Royals reached double figures, including Ekaterina Smagily (11), Moats (10) and Felicity Jones (10).
W&L GAME NOTES
- The Generals secured their fifth consecutive win, improving to 15-2 overall and 7-1 in ODAC play. The victory also marked W&L's 40th straight win over the Royals, a streak dating back to Sept. 29, 1995.
- W&L registered 23 kills on 86 attempts with seven errors for a .186 hitting percentage, posting a match-high .371 clip in the opening set with 13 kills and no errors. The Generals also recorded nine service aces, seven blocks and 49 digs. Defensively, the Blue and White limited the Royals to a -.037 hitting percentage across three sets. EMU committed 40 total errors, including 30 attack errors and 10 service errors.
TOP TEN UPDATES
- Mitchener moved up a spot to No. 7 in the program's career kills list, tying Rachael Phillips '10 with 1,254 while moving past Allie Buchholz '25 in the career digs list with 1,391.
UP NEXT
- The Generals will honor their six senior members on Saturday afternoon after they take on Christopher Newport University at 1 p.m. inside Holekamp Gym.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
