BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College volleyball team defeated Emory & Henry, 3-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) match-up on Saturday morning , followed by a 3-0 victory over Virginia Union University in the afternoon at the tri-match hosted by Bridgewater College.

In the early match against the Emory & Henry Wasps, the Eagles earn the first game by a 25-14 tally, but fall 25-18 in the second. Bridgewater takes home the ODAC victory after winning the third and fourth games, 25-19 and 25-16, respectively.

Bridgewater jumps to an early 10-3 lead with strong offensive efforts from Abby Mills, Katie Long, and Megann Grimes. A Rachel Donaldson kill boosts the lead to 12-5, while back-to-back service aces by Shannon Skellchock pushes the score to 14-5.

Kills by Grimes and Megan Lookabaugh gives Bridgewater an 18-8 advantage and two more kills by Grimes forces an Emory & Henry timeout.

Out of the stoppage, the Wasps were unable to fend off the Bridgewater attacks as Donaldson and Carter notched a kill each, before Long ended the game with a kill, making the final 25-14.

To start off the second set, Bridgewater gained an early 8-3 advantage. The Wasps went on a 3-0 run to bring them within one, 8-7, before a Maddy Carter kill forced the side out. Emory & Henry used a number of Bridgewater miscues, giving them a 16-11 lead and forcing Bridgewater to call a timeout.

The Wasps went on a four point run to extend their lead to 21-13, but a Grimes kill cut it off. A kill by Carter, followed by a Grimes kill and ace by Abby Mills cut the lead to 23-18, but the Wasps notched the last two points to win 25-18.

In the third frame, the two teams traded runs early on before a kill by Mills sparked a 3-0 run for the Eagles. Mills notched a service ace and Carter and Lindsay Kallam both added kills during the stretch to give the Eagles the 16-11 advantage. Emory & Henry took advantage of a few Bridgewater errors, but a Mills kill and an ace by Ashley Weik forced a Wasp timeout with a score of 20-16.

Out of the timeout, another ace by Weik and a kill by Mills put the Eagles up 23-18. A kill by Grimes and a Wasp attack error handed Bridgewater the 25-19 victory.

To start off the fourth game, Bridgewater gained a 5-0 lead, with Grimes and Mills adding kills early on. Kills by Grimes, Carter and Long pushed the Eagles to an 11-4 advantage. A run book-ended by kills from Long allowed Bridgewater to build its lead to 15-5.

The Wasps notched a few kills to cut the lead to 16-10, by a kill by Donaldson earned the side out for the Eagles. The teams traded points in the latter end of the set, but another Donaldson kill and two from Long gave Bridgewater the win by a 25-16 tally.

Four players for the Eagles tallied double-digit kills, with Grimes leading the way with 13. Mills, Carter and Long notched 11 kills each. Kallam dished out 38 assists and Mara Hogan earned 24 digs for the game.

Tristen Pennington led the offense for the Wasps with 11 kills, while Maleah Neely tallied 24 assists and Kelly Mae Kerlin had 17 digs.

In the second match on the day, the Bridgewater Eagles took on the Panthers from Virginia Union University. Bridgewater won 3-0 with scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-22, respectively.

The two teams traded runs early on in the first set before the Eagles used a kill by Donaldson to take a 10-8 lead. Both teams seemed to exchange errors as they locked the game at 13 and 14 before Bridgewater took an 18-15 lead with back-to-back kills from Carter.

A kill followed by an ace from Grimes boosted the lead to 21-17 and forcing a Panther timeout. Out of the timeout, a kill by Lookabaugh and three kills by Carly Casto gave Bridgewater the 25-18 win.

In the second frame, the Eagles jumped to an early 8-6 lead after back-to-back aces from Skellchock. The Eagles took advantage of Virginia Union mishaps and after a Kallam ace, the Eagles had an 18-9 advantage. A Casto kill and a Panther setting error handed the Eagles the 25-20 victory.

Bridgewater earned an early 4-0 advantage in the third set with kills from Kallam and Grimes. The Eagles used their strong offensive efforts with five kills from four different people over the span of six points, giving them a 13-5 lead.  Kills from Lookabaugh and Mills boosted the Eagle advantage to 17-11. A few late Panther miscues gave Bridgewater a 22-16 lead before a Lookabaugh kill put the game away with a final score of 25-22.

Mills and Casto both led the offensive efforts with eight kills each, while Grimes added seven. Kallam dished out 23 assists and Nikki Snyder chipped in a team-high 11 digs.

For Virginia Union, Kristin Madison notched seven kills and 15 digs and Allorie Sanders added 12 assists on the afternoon.

Bridgewater is back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Virginia Beach to take on the Marlins from Virginia Wesleyan for an ODAC match-up. Start time is set for 6:30 p.m.