Women’s Volleyball outlasts Emory & Henry in gritty five-setter

EMORY, Va. – Sofia Beard inflicted a 25-kill bombardment and Riley Hill dug out 42 attacks at Emory & Henry on Friday night as the Catawba College women's volleyball team dispatched the Wasps, 3-2.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (4-18, 2-13 SAC) hit .119 with season highs of 66 kills and 227 total attacks, while Emory & Henry (5-20, 2-13 SAC) was held to a lean .070 mark

- The Wasps were better in service at 10 aces and five errors, compared to Catawba's five aces and 10 errors

- E&H committed fewer receiving errors with a .954-.910 edge in reception percentage, but Catawba finished superior in setting percentage at .271-.234

- The teams had similar numbers on defense as Catawba maintained small advantages in blocks (9-8) and digs (111-104)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Beard's 25 kills is the program's best single-match mark since Kylie Morgan logged 27 darts on Sep. 10, 2019 at Lenoir-Rhyne; the sophomore outside hitter also had seven digs with three block assists

- Kelcie Love landed 17 kills, Sydney Wattles tallied nine, and Katie Clark recorded eight

- Haley Moffett had a double-double, dishing out a career-high 49 assists with 16 digs while bagging a couple of service aces

- The 42 digs from Hill tied the seventh-best performance in program history as the libero also chipped in six dimes

- Clark had a hand in five blocks as she and Wattles leapt for two solo stops apiece

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set

- The blue and white opened the match with a 6-3 run including two Lauren Bodell kills and an ace by Riannel Arevalo

- Unforced errors on both ends kept the score close, but Beard began to hit paydirt on a consistent basis as Love's kill at 20-13 forced E&H to burn its second timeout

- The Wasps crept back, capping off the surge with three blocks and an ace in a five-rally span to level the set at 23-all

- Kills from Bodell, Clark, and Beard finished off the frame for a 26-24 triumph

Second Set

- Three strikes from Beard and repeated Wasp miscues gave Catawba a 7-2 lead, but E&H got the next five points to make it 7-7

- Love and Beard continued to land darts as Wattles helped orchestrate back-to-back blocks, extending the visitors' advantage to 17-14

- Hannah Watson and Grace Duey contributed points to get E&H back even as two Wasp errors and a Rachel Gonzales ace made the gap three again

- Down 21-18, E&H dashed through two Catawba timeouts to chalk up the final seven points, tying up the match at one set apiece

Third Set

- Four consecutive points to start the frame put Catawba in the driver's seat for the better part of the third stanza

- Attacking errors from the Catawba Indians were balanced by on-target strikes from Beard who restored the lead to 16-10

- Watson, Duey, and Brianna Hogan had two kills apiece to draw even at 22; at 23-all, an errant Wasp attack and Bodell's set-ending kill locked up the third frame for Catawba

Fourth Set

- The stanza began more contested than the previous three, but three kills by Love and an ace on Kary Hales' serve created a four-point Catawba edge

- Consecutive aces from Avery Zuckerwar helped E&H rally ahead at 13-12 as Hogan and Duey bolstered the Wasp attack

- However, Love and Clark supplied offensive tallies and Moffett placed two unreturnable serves to give Catawba a 23-18 lead

- Lightning struck twice as a revived Wasps squad went on a run to reach set point at 24-23; a Love kill made it 24-all, followed by kills out of Gracyn Miller and Hogan to force a fifth frame

Fifth Set

- Duey and Hogan fronted the Wasps in a fight against Beard and Love who had Catawba's only kills in a 7-5 deficit

- Devyn Berg entered the match to serve as Clark blocked E&H on her first rally

- Clark and Beard torched the hosts with multiple kills late before Hogan broke the Catawba Indians' serve as the blue and white opted to talk things over

- Kills by Beard and Wattles closed it out as Catawba snatched its second five-set conference victory

UP NEXT

Catawba welcomes Lenoir-Rhyne to Goodman Arena tomorrow at 2 p.m.