ROANOKE, Va. - The Bridgewater College Volleyball team split the first day of the Roanoke College Maroon Classic on September 7, 2018. The Eagles defeated Piedmont to start the day, but fell to Sewanee in four sets.

Match One: Bridgewater 3, Piedmont 1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-17)

After dropping the first set, the Eagles came out strong in the second and never looked back. Bridgewater served tough to hold Piedmont to a .000 hitting percentage. Rachel Gaston went on a service run of five straight points and finished the set with a kill to even the match at 1-1.

Bridgewater carried that momentum into the third and fourth sets to come away with the win. Gaston once again led the Eagles with her fourth double-double of year, recording 16 kills and 21 digs. Madison Haynes notched nine kills, followed by Lindsay Olzawski and Allison Clark who put down eight balls each. Victoria Wilson continued to lead the offense with 41 assists.

Match Two: Bridgewater 1, Sewanee 3 (25-16, 21-25, 22-25, 18-25)

The Eagles jumped out to a 9-2 lead and gave a dominant performance in set one, hitting a .361 as a team compared to the Tigers .158. With the exception of an early 2-1 score, the Tigers never came within five points of the Eagles, who also finished the set with three aces.

Bridgewater battled in sets two and three behind strong serving runs from Clark and Taylor McNeely, but Sewanee was able to narrowly pull away with wins in both sets. The Tigers took over in the fourth as they would go on to claim the match.

McNeely took charge of the back row with 23 digs for the Eagles, who are now 4-2 on the year. Wilson had an impressive showing with 33 assists, 13 digs, six kills, and four aces. Gaston added one more double-double to her stat line with 15 kills and 12 digs.

Bridgewater returns to the court tomorrow for the final day of the tournament. They will face Averett at 11 a.m. followed by Methodist at 3 p.m.