WASHINGTON, Pa. – Friday evening in its Presidents' Athletic Conference opener, the Washington & Jefferson College women's volleyball team did something that they had not done in nearly five years -- beat Westminster.
The Presidents snapped a seven-game skid against the Titans in the head-to-head series. The Presidents last win against the Titans came nearly five years ago on Oct. 13, 2018.
Faith Fetsko (South Park, Pa./South Park) finished with a season-high 20 kills and
Lizzie Carmichael (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) collected 10 kills, six total blocks and compiled a .360 hitting percentage in the win.
Rian Benz (Strongsville, Ohio / Holy Name) logged a double-double effort with 13 kills and 15 digs. Defensively,
Bella Anzevino (Brunswick, Ohio / Buckeye) registered a season-high 29 digs for the freshman.
Piper McFarland (West Mifflin, Pa./Cornerstone Preparatory Academy) chipped in 18 assists for the Presidents.
Adrianna Sacramento (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) and
Brielle Moorhouse (Brunswick, Ohio / Buckeye) logged a near equal distribution of assists from the setter position. Sacramento finished with 26 assists and 17 digs. Moorhouse notched 24 assists and 10 digs.
W&J opened the first set with an 8-4 lead following back-to-back blocks by
Sophie Little (Marysville, Ohio / Fairbanks). Westminster responded with nine-straight points to push ahead into a 13-8 advantage. The Presidents countered with a spurt of its own, scoring six of the next eight points to trim the gap to 15-14 behind two service aces by Sacramento. Trailing by an 18-16 margin, W&J ripped off five-straight points, the last of which came on a kill by Fetsko that made it 21-18. W&J eventually recorded the final three points of the set to take the first frame by a 25-20 margin.
The Presidents raced out to a 9-2 lead in the second set behind some powerful offensive efforts. Westminster battled back to trim the deficit to a single point but W&J tallied five of the final six points to take the second set by a 25-20 margin. Fetsko notched the final two points via kill during the set win.
W&J had a pair of set points in the third set as they were looking for the sweep. However, the Titans regrouped and tallied five of the next six points to take the third set by a 27-25 score. The two teams battled again in the fourth set. The score was knotted at 19 all before the Titans scored six of the final eight points to force a decisive fifth set.
The Presidents did what they needed to do in the fifth set to secure the victory. W&J recorded three of the first four points to build an early lead. Westminster responded to even the score at 4-4. W&J was able to gain a bit of distance with four-straight points behind kills by Little and Fetsko. Westminster trimmed the deficit to 12-10 but W&J finished the victory with three of the final four points. Carmichael and Little recorded kills before a Westminster attack error accounted for W&J's final point of the night.
The Red and Black returns to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 10 when they host the Bethany Bison for another league tilt. Start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
