WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College volleyball team recorded a sweep of their weekend matchups while hosting the W&J Tri, featuring wins over Bethany and Penn State-Altoona.

 
W&J 3, Bethany 2 (18-25, 23-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-12)
 
W&J's victory over the Bison is the first since 2022 that was a 3-1 victory at home.
 
The five-set thriller got off to a rocky start for the Presidents going down quickly, 2-0. The Presidents were handled in the first set due to a six-point run made in the later portion of the set. In the second set, W&J managed to show a pulse as they almost took the second set past the normal 25 points, but to no avail.
 
The Presidents turned the tide in the third set after mounting a nine-point comeback. Down 20-11, the Presidents relied on the services of Sophie Little (Marysville, Ohio/Fairbanks) and Brielle Moorhouse (East Liberty, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) to change the tide of the bout with a kill from Little and service ace from Moorhouse to bring the lead within five. Slowly sneaking back into the match, W&J's offense struck at the right time to create their first lead beyond 20 points in a set, 25-24. With the help of a kill and attacking error from the Bison, W&J managed their first set victory of the Tri.
 
The momentum overflowed in the fourth set as the Presidents took a hard-fought fourth set, 25-22.
 
In the fifth, W&J jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the 15-point deciding set. Bethany managed to come within one point of the Presidents lead due to a Bison kill which left W&J with a 13-12 advantage. The Red & Black did not squander their lead as a back-to-back kills by Alyssa Trn (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg Area) and Jaden Blough (Meyersdale, Pa./Meyersdale) sealed the 3-2 victory.
 
Little led the team with 23 kills, .404 hitting percentage and four total blocks. Blough finished second on the team in kills with 14 coupled with seven digs. Moorhouse and Adrianna Sacramento (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) split to setting duties, posting a combined 53 assists. Moorhouse dished out 25 while Sacramento tallied 28.
 
Sophomore libero Gabby Leadbitter (Eighty Four, Pa./Wheeling Central Catholic) led the team on the defensive end with 19 digs followed by Rian Benz (Strongsville, Ohio/Holy Name), Little and Moorhouse who all had 13 each.

W&J 3, Penn State-Altoona 0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-13)
 
Following a five-set thriller played between Bethany and Penn State-Altoona, the Presidents remained firing on all cylinders and taking full advantage of the worn-down Lions unit.
 
Both units played to a back-and-forth first set with neither team coming out with a large lead. With the score tied at 24, the Presidents impacted the Lions outside hitters to create consecutive attack errors to close out the first set, 26-24.
 
With new rotating players thrown into the mix for W&J, they managed to create an early 6-2 lead in the second set that would not be forfeited for the remainder of the set. A late comeback attempt by the Lions was halted by two errors by Penn State-Altoona again to close out the second set of play, 25-21.
 
With shades of the third set against Bethany, W&J went up 20-11 with a 2-0 lead in team score but managed to ensure their sweep of the Lions due to kills by Little, Benz, and Trn.
 
Little led the Presidents again in kills with 10 and added four total blocks. Blough finished close behind with nine coupled with eight from Trn. Moorhouse logged 17 assists in the second match followed by Sacramento with 15.
 
Abby Oldham (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) had a stout game at the net with six total blocks. Leadbitter remained at libero for W&J in their second matchup and compiled nine digs on the back line.

W&J will remain in Washington, Pa. to host the visiting Mount Aloysius Mounties Tuesday (Sept. 24). Opening serve is set for 6:00 p.m.