VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Bridgewater volleyball team competed in the second, and final day, of the Marlin Invitational splitting matches with Plymouth State and Salem.

Match One:
Final Score: Bridgewater 3, Plymouth State 1 (32-30, 25-12, 15-25, 27-25)
Records: Bridgewater, 3-0; Plymouth State, 2-1
How it Happened:

• The beginning of the first set was a back-and-forth battle between BC and the Panthers with Faith Shields scoring the first two points for Bridgewater. The Eagles continued to keep it close with kills from two freshmen, Reagan Stoop and Brooklyn Williams giving the team a slight advantage of 7-6. Plymouth State clawed its way back scoring four consecutive points to take the lead back. The Eagles were down by five points at one point of the game but a string of three consecutive points allowed for BC to crawl back to within one, 22-23. The neither time ws able to close out the set in regulation and the squads traded points until a Sophia Stites ace gave the Eagle the set, 32-30.
• In the second set Bridgewater opened on a tear scoring five consecutive points. BC extended the lead to 10 after Kylie Robinson dominated with four kills in a row making the score 13-3. BC ended the set on the team's 17^th  kill of the frame coming from Faith DePew.
• The start to the third saw both teams repeating the start of the first set until Plymouth State turned up the attack outscoring Bridgewater 9-3. The Eagles attempted a comeback making it 14-11 after two service errors by the Panthers. Plymouth State was able to hold on to extend the match, grabbing the third set 25-15.
• The BC attack in the fourth set served up four kills taking a 5-3 advantage over the Panthers early. Plymouth tried to force a fifth and final set going up 23-19 near the closing of the fourth set. Faith Shields dropped in a service ace to make it 22-23, but Plymouth State would respond with an attack increasing the margin by two. Two attack errors went the Eagles way on set points for the Panthers allowing for a tie and once again go past the 25-scoring mark. Brooklyn Williams, Shields and Stoop scored on three consecutive kills winning the set 27-25.

Match Stats:

• Rachael Meyers finished the match with 14 kills, while freshmen duo Stoop and Brooklyn Williams finished with nine. Teammates Robinson and DePew each had eight.
• Stoop and Brooklyn Williams each ended with three blocks while Meyers added a pair.
• Ashley Rutherford and Robinson had the highest hitting percentage with .556 and .438, respectively.
• Stoop also added 19 digs, while Stites had 18.
• The team had a total of 61 kills.

Match Two:
Final Score: Bridgewater 2, Salem 3 (27-29, 15-25, 25-21, 25-13, 8-15)
Records: Bridgewater, 3-1; Salem, 3-1
How it Happened:

• Bridgewater opened the match with a 9-6 advantage after three early kills from DePew. The Spirits and Eagles traded points until Salem went on a short run to take a 20-17. Bridgewater fought its way back after defending a pair of set points, but a third try was the charm for SC with Salem taking the opening frame 29-27.
• Set two started off slow for BC until a run sparked by a DePew kill gave BC an early 8-5 advantage. Salem returned the favor to wrestle the lead back 22-8 before Rutherford once again found DePew for another momentum shifting kill. The two sides continued to trade blows but a seven-point run from the Spirits gave them a two-set advantage after taking the frame 25-15.
• BC stared down the two-set deficit and fell in a 9-3 hole early. The Eagles slowly crawled back in, but trailed until the business end of the frame as a pair of kills from Meyers and a SC attack error gave the Eagles a late 21-20 advantage. Salem quickly stifled the BC momentum after a service error, but Meyers, Brooklyn Williams and Stoop took over with a flurry of kills and blocks to give BC the set 25-21.
• The fourth set saw Bridgewater get off to a hot start taking a 10-point advantage of 15-5 after a Rutherford kill. Salem tried to slow the momentum, but the Eagles continued to push the envelope to take a 21-7 advantage. Bridgewater sat in front 24-9, but the Spirits ripped off four points in a row to apply some pressure. Stoop took matters into her own hands and forced a decider after her kill gave the Eagles the fourth frame 25-13
• The final set saw Bridgewater jump out to an early 7-4 lead with kills from Brooklyn Williams, Meyers and Stoop. However, the Spirits capitalized on attacking errors from the Eagles as Salem won 11 of the final 12 points to take the fifth set 15-8.

Match Stats:

• Meyers had quite the showing despite the team result. The Keystone State native totaled 17 kills and six total blocks in the five-set thriller.
• Atwell and Brooklyn Williams added to the block party with six and five respectively.
• Stites continued to dominate, leading the team in digs with 23. Stoop ended the match with 17 and teammates Grace Williams and Faith Shields had 11.
• Both Jolina Bun and Valeria Rosa Lopez added four service aces for the Spirits.

Up Next:
BC will hit the road next weekend for the Raleigh Invitational facing off against Piedmont and William Peace on September 8 and St. Mary's (Md.) and Meredith on September 9.