WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson volleyball team never trailed in sets, but needed five games to take down Pitt-Greensburg, 3-2 (25-12, 20-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-7), at the Henry Memorial Center.
The victory improves the Presidents to 9-2 on the season, the best start to a year since the 1998 squad opened up its' 30-3 campaign 14-1. The Bobcats fall to 2-10 on the year.
In the decisive fifth set, W&J held a 6-3 lead after four kills and two Bobcat errors, but UPG battled back to knot the set at 6-6. A kill by
Brooke Lininger (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) began a run of six-straight points for the Presidents to allow them to open up a 12-6 lead. With
Makenzie Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) serving,
Abbey Eich (Greencastle, Pa./St. Maria Goretti (Md.)) recorded a kill to make it 8-6, and then a pair of errors by UPG stretched the lead to 10-6. Another Lininger kill and combined block by Lininger and Eich, and the margin stretched to 12-6.
Eich would figure in on the final four points (12-15) of the match for W&J, as she posted a kill and pair of blocks (one solo, one teamed with
Julia Bernesser (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler)) in addition to her duo with Lininger.
Lininger established a new career high with seven blocks in the match, while also tallying eight kills. Eich was in double figures with a match- and career-high 12 kills and also set a new season high with nine blocks, one shy of her two-year benchmark.
Bernesser reached double digits in kills for the second time in her 11 collegiate matches, recording 10 and adding three blocks.
Madison Lydic (Erie, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) notched nine kills at a .333 clip and connected on three blocks (two solo).
Both
Mallory O'Brien (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and
Emily Toy (Freeport, Pa./Freeport) handed out a match-best 22 assists. Toy completed the double-double with 11 digs to go with three service aces.
Allison Means (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville Area) led the defense with 29 digs, while Coughlin added 17 and
Taylor Freeman (Cresson, Pa./Penn Cambria) amassed 13.
W&J will host a Presidents' Athletic Conference tri-match on Saturday, Sept. 24 against Westminster (12 p.m.) and Geneva (4 p.m.). Those two teams will play in the middle, at 2 p.m.
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