DANVILLE, Va. - The Bridgewater College volleyball team dropped their first match of the season to Maryville before taking a 3-1 win over Averett.

Game One: Bridgewater 0, Maryville 3 (25-17, 25,20, 25-16)

Bridgewater started set one strong with a 7-2 lead, but strong serving from Maryville put the Eagles in a hole they could not get out of. The Eagles hung around in the second, but costly errors gave the Scots a 2-0 lead. With the momentum from the second set, Maryville controlled the third set to give the Eagles their first loss of the season.

The Eagles struggled to get their offense going against the Scots as Maryville held Bridgewater to a .112 hitting percentage, their lowest of the season. 

Despite a low team hitting percentage, Rachel Gaston shined with a match high 18 kills and 13 digs. Jyailah Friendly (17), Taylor McNeely (14) and Jessica Bissmeyer (10)  all had double digit digs for the Eagles. Grace Hayes had 24 assists.

Game Two: Bridgewater 3 , Averett 1 (25-18, 25-15, 25-15, 25-14)

The Cougars block overwhelmed the Eagles in set one as Averett picked up four blocks compared to zero for BC. Combined with three Eagle service errors, Averett took a 1-0 set lead.

Bridgewater came alive in the second set behind five kills from Emily Hanger. The Eagles hit a .232 compared to Averett's .036 in the set.  The Bridgewater attackers exploded in the third, smashing down 18 team kills. 

The final set followed suit of sets two and three. Gaston had six kills and combined with Madison Haynes for the game winning block.

Gaston had another match high with 20 kills and 19 digs, while McNeely had a match high 24 digs. Hanger posted a career high 13 kills while Hayes had 45 assists.

Bridgewater is now 14-1 on the season. They return to action at home on Wednesday, September 25 to face ODAC rival Lynchburg. Bridgewater and Lynchburg have met in the ODAC playoffs for the past two years. Game time is 6:30 p.m.