HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Bridgewater College volleyball team went across town for the latest installment of the Route 42 Rivalry with a 3-2 win on Tuesday night.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Bridgewater 3, Eastern Mennonite 2 (15-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 15-12)
Records: Bridgewater 14-7, 8-0 ODAC; Eastern Mennonite 7-8, 4-4 ODAC

HOW IT HAPPENED

·        The Eagles jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set in Yoder Arena after a kill from Lisa O'Grady. The Royals bounced back to tie the set at 6-6 and took the lead before the Eagles went on a five-point run to go up 11-8 after a service ace from Sophia Stites. The two sides alternated scores until EMU ran together eight straight points to take a commanding 19-12 lead and eventually took the set 25-15.

·        Much of the same in the second set saw BC take a 5-2 lead early on with EMU firing back with a run of points to tie the set several times. Neither side could find an advantage throughout the middle points of the set with a plethora of ties. Eventually, the Eagles gained a two-point edge at 19-17 after a kill by Gabby Atwell. BC went on to win six of the last seven points to tie the match at one set apiece.

·        The third set saw EMU go on an 8-2 run to start the game to force a Bridgewater timeout. Out of the stoppage, BC battled back to make it a one-point set at 12-11 but the Royals rushed it back out to a 16-12 lead. EMU was able to stay in control of the set to gain a set point at 24-19. The Eagles rallied for three-straight to cut the deficit down to 24-22 after consecutive kills by Atwell, Emma Anderson, which came off a dig that dropped in for a point, and Faith DePew to force a timeout from the home side. EMU took the set on the next point, 25-22, to go ahead in the match two sets to one.

·        Bridgewater used a pair of service aces from Ashley Rutherford to go ahead 5-1 early in the fourth set to force the Royals into using an early timeout. The Eagles continued their run out of the timeout going up 11-4 through the first 15 points of the set to see the Royals use their second and final timeout of the set. EMU made a match out of it by rallying to cut the lead own to 15-13, but it was not enough as the Eagles eventually took the set, 25-19, to force a fifth and final game.

·        EMU was the first to reach eight points as the teams switched sides with the Royals leading 8-7 of yet another back-and-forth set. The two sides remained deadlocked throughout the game before a net error from EMU gave Bridgewater a 12-10 edge to cause a timeout from the Royals. Out of the stoppage, Eastern Mennonite got the next point, but Bridgewater took two of the next three to hold a 14-12 edge to serve for the match, which garnered a kill by O'Grady for the match victory.

MATCH STATS

·        DePew led the Eagles with 12 kills on a .267 hitting percentage, while O'Grady finished with 10 of her own.

·        Rachael Meyers finished the contest with five kills on just nine swings to garner a .444 clip

·        Grace Hayes paced the team with 27 assists, while Rutherford finished with 11 of her own.

·        Kylie Robinson finished with 10 digs to lead the team, as Rutherford picked up nine and libero Sophia Stites registered eight in the win.

·        On the nets, Atwell had three total blocks as O'Grady and Hayes each had two of their own.

·        As a team, EMU hit at a .241 clip compared to just .159 from Bridgewater.

UP NEXT

Bridgewater returns to action on Friday, Oct. 14, with a home match against Virginia Wesleyan in Nininger Gymnasium beginning at 6 pm.