WILMINGTON, Ohio -- The Washington & Jefferson College volleyball team was edged twice Saturday in action at the Wilmington College Quaker Classic. The Presidents fell in five sets to Blackburn College (Ill.) before falling in five sets to the host Quakers to conclude action at the tournament. 

Blackburn 3, W&J 2 (25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 22-25, 15-11)

The Presidents opened the match with a pair of narrow set victories. W&J picked up a 25-22 decision in the opening set before adding a 26-24 victory in the second set. The Presidents had a chance to finish off the sweep in the third set, as they held a 24-23 lead. However, the Beavers tallied the final three points to claim the third set and continue the match.

Blackburn built an early lead in the fourth set before eventually seeing W&J rally to even the score at 22-22. Three-straight kills gave the Beavers the 25-22 set four victory to force a decisive fifth set. W&J trailed for the entirety of the fifth set as Blackburn earned the comeback victory. 

Four Presidents recorded at least eight kills. Faith Fetsko (South Park, Pa./South Park) produced nine kills while a trio of Presidents, Lizzie Carmichael (Wyoming, Ohio), Rian Benz (Strongsville, Ohio / Holy Name) and Sophie Little (Marysville, Ohio / Fairbanks) finished with eight kills. Little also had team highs in blocks (5) and service aces (4) in the loss. Brielle Moorhouse (East Liberty, Ohio / Benjamin Logan) led W&J with 15 assists and 12 digs. 


Wilmington 3, W&J 2 (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 11-15)

Behind a .429 hitting percentage in the opening set, W&J cruised to a 25-15 set one win over the Quakers in the nightcap. The Red and Black raced out to an early lead en route to a 25-20 set two victory.

The Presidents appeared poised to pick up the sweep after building a six-point lead on a Bella Anzevino (Brunswick, Ohio / Buckeye) service ace to make it 16-10. However, the Quakers recorded seven-straight points to surge into the lead. W&J eventually recovered to regain the lead at 20-19 but Wilmington countered with four-straight points before taking the third set by a slim 25-23 margin. 

W&J built an 18-15 lead in the fourth on a service ace by Moorhouse. Later in the set, W&J stretched its lead to 22-20 on kills by Briget Everett (Holidaysburg, Pa./Holidaysburg) and Carmichael. However, the Quakers stunned the Presidents with five-straight points to take the fourth and force a fifth set.

Wilmington scored five of the first six points in the fifth before eventually building an 8-3 advantage. W&J eventually trimmed the deficit to a single point at 12-11 but Wilmington finished off the comeback with the final four points of the deciding fifth set. 

Four Presidents tallied at least eight kills. Benz led the Presidents with 10 kills, four service aces while also tallying 21 digs. Carmichael finished with nine kills while Kamryn Conners (St. Clairsville, Ohio / Wheeling Central Catholic) chipped in eight kills. Everett posted eight kills and a career-high 20 digs. Moorhouse had the match-high with 25 assists. Anzevino finished with a team-best 22 digs. 

Wilmington used an advantage in service to pull out the victory. The Quakers registered 14 service aces while committing just four errors. W&J had seven service aces but committed 10 service errors. Both teams finished with 51 kills and 84 digs. W&J committed 11 less attack errors compared to Wilmington. 


Up Next: W&J (2-5 overall) travels to Saint Vincent College for a match inside the Carey Center on Wednesday, Sept. 13. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m.