LEXINGTON, Va. - The Washington and Lee University women's volleyball team opened the weekend with its eighth Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) sweep of the season, defeating Averett University in straight sets on Friday evening. Senior
Vivi Vasquez highlighted the victory by becoming the first player in program history to surpass 2,000 career digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED (W&L, 3-0 | 25-19, 25-20, 25-16)
- The Cougars (4-14, 2-8 ODAC) opened the match on a 4-1 run to take an early lead before four errors and a service ace from Claire Hargett put the Generals (17-3, 8-1 ODAC) in front, 6-4. An ensuing 7-1 run from W&L extended its lead to six, fueled by a pair of kills from Cara Hamil, a kill and service ace from Grace Mitchener and blocks from Mitchener, Emma Mulvaney and Ava Gaines. Averett cut the Generals' lead to four with a short scoring stretch before a kill from Hamil kick-started a 4-1 run to put W&L ahead, 17-10. After a pair of kills from the Cougars, Mulvaney registered a solo block and Hargett recorded a kill to give the Blue and White a 20-13 advantage. Averett cut the lead to four late in the set before two errors and a block from Mulvaney and Gaines secured a 25-19 opening-set victory.
- Both squads scored a pair of points to start the second set before a W&L service error tied the frame at five. The Blue and White responded with a 5-1 scoring stretch to take a 10-6 lead, fueled by a pair of kills from Mitchener and one from Mulvaney. Following three consecutive points from Averett, a service error kick-started a 6-1 run for the Generals to extend their lead to 16-10. Sienna Nichoson recorded a service ace, Mitchener added a kill and Hargett and Gaines teamed up to stuff an attack from Sydney Carbone during the scoring stretch. An ensuing run from W&L extended its lead to nine late in the set, highlighted by kills from Mitchener, Nichoson, Hargett and Hamil. The Cougars battled back with an 8-2 run of their own to make it a three-point set before Hamil found the floor for a kill and Mulvaney and Gaines teamed up once again for a block to secure a 25-20 victory.
- The Blue and White opened the third frame on a 9-2 run to take an early lead. W&L recorded three service aces from Mulvaney, Hargett and Addison Evans, while Mulvaney, Stephanie Lynch, Hamil and Hargett each added kills. Three consecutive errors from the Cougars extended the Generals' lead to nine before Averett rattled off seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to two. W&L responded with a lengthy run of its own to take a 20-11 lead, fueled by four kills from Mulvaney, a kill and service ace from Hamil and a kill from Hargett. Following a pair of points from the Cougars, a block from Lynch and Mulvaney sparked three unanswered points to give the Generals a 10-point advantage. Back-to-back attack errors from Averett secured a 25-16 victory and W&L's eighth conference sweep of the season.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Grace Mitchener and Emma Mulvaney led the match with eight kills each, while Mulvaney posted a team-best .350 hitting percentage with just one error. Sydney Mounce and Emily Phillips paced the Cougars with six kills apiece.
- Addison Evans dished out a match-high 14 assists, while Sienna Nichoson also reached double figures with 10. Hannah Batista led Averett with 12 assists.
- Mounce recorded a match-high 19 digs in the loss, while Tahani Villines (15) and Batista (12) also reached double figures. Vivi Vasquez led the Blue and White with 17 digs, while Mitchener (15) and Mulvaney (11) joined her in double figures.
- Claire Hargett registered a career- and match-high three service aces in the win, while Nichoson added two. Villines and Batista paced the Cougars with two aces each.
- At the net, Mulvaney led the match with two solo blocks and three block assists, while Ava Gaines added four block assists. Sydney Carbone, Allie Lane and Phillips each recorded a pair of block assists for the Cougars.
W&L GAME NOTES
- The Generals improved to 17-3 overall and 9-1 in ODAC play. The victory also marked their eighth conference sweep of the season.
- W&L recorded 33 kills on 117 attempts with 15 errors for a .154 hitting percentage, hitting above .200 in both the second (.238) and third (.206) sets. The Blue and White added nine service aces, seven blocks, 33 assists and 66 digs in the win.
- Defensively, the Generals limited Averett to a .098 hitting percentage while forcing 19 attack errors.
TOP TEN UPDATES
- Vivi Vasquez surpassed 2,000 career digs this evening, extending her program-record total to 2,014. She sits just 82 digs shy of breaking the ODAC record of 2,095, held by Randolph-Macon's Samantha Sallade. Vasquez is the first player in program history and just the second in conference history to reach the milestone.
UP NEXT
- The Generals are back on the court tomorrow afternoon as they take on Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. at Noon.
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.
