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Gallaudet, Penn St.-Behrend perfect thru Day 1 of Worthington Classic
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The first day of the Worthington Classic is in the books and after eight volleyball matches Gallaudet University (Pool A) and Penn St.-Behrend College (Pool B) were the only teams able to come out with perfect 2-0 records. The host Bison beat Meredith College 3-0 to start the two-day tournament and then held off a pesky Emerson College (15-7) team in a thrilling nightcap where GU won 3-2.
Gallaudet (14-9) jumped out to quick 2-0 lead over Emerson but the Lions roared back and took the third and fourth sets to force a fifth and final set. In the last set the two teams battled back and forth as there were five lead changes. Gallaudet's last two points came off Emerson errors as the Lions had a service error and a botched set out of bounds to give 25-19, 25-17, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13 win.
Junior Paige Johnson (North Richland Hills, Texas) led the Bison with 37 assists, 18 digs, four kills and three service aces. Sophomore Ann Whited (Fishers, Ind.), Mari Klassen (White Rock, British Columbia) and Jessica Israel (Frederick, Md.) for 34 kills. Whited had half of them with 17 kills to go with 12 digs and five service aces. Klassen added 11 kills, eight digs and two service aces while Israel finished with six kills. Freshman Michelle Mansfield-Hom (Frederick, Md.) and sophomore Krystal Johnson (North Richland Hills, Texas) had seven kills each and Johnson added three service aces as the Bison had 16 in the win. Junior libero Micaela Paulone (Fishers, Ind.) chipped in 15 digs to go with six assists and two service aces.
In the first match, Gallaudet jumped out quick on Meredith (12-8) and took the first set 25-16 and followed suit with wins of 25-22 and 25-16. Israel led the way with nine kills followed by Whited and Klassen with seven kills and three service aces each. Paige Johnson passed out 31 assists, made six digs and five kills. Paulone added 12 digs and two service aces. Gallaudet had 12 service aces in the victory. Krystal Johnson and freshman Shayna Unger (Middletown, Md.) had two service aces apiece. Sophomore Lauren Benedict (Germantown, Md.) made seven digs as she earned starts in both matches.
Emerson and Meredith both picked up wins against Sweet Briar (3-13) to round out Pool A play for Friday.
Penn St.-Behrend (8-9) earned wins over Emory & Henry College and North Carolina Wesleyan College (13-8), the latter of which took five sets as the Lions took the first two sets but had to hang on in the fifth set to secure the 25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 10-25, 15-12 win. N.C. Wesleyan started the day with a 3-0 win over Catholic University of America. The Cardinals (11-10) took the nightcap match in Pool B with a 3-2 win over Emory & Henry (6-12).
The Worthington Classic continues tomorrow (Saturday, October 9) with the first two matches schedule to begin at 9 a.m. in the Field House. Gallaudet will go up against Sweet Briar at 11 a.m. The consolation round begins at 1 p.m. and the championship round is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
Friday, October 8
Court 1
Gallaudet 3, Meredith 0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-16)
Emerson 3, Sweet Briar 0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-21)
Meredith 3, Sweet Briar 0 (25-19, 25-6, 25-13)
Gallaudet 3, Emerson 2 (25-19, 25-17, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13)
Court 2
N.C. Wesleyan 3, Catholic 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-23)
Penn St.-Behrend 3, Emory & Henry 0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-20)
Penn St.-Behrend 3, N.C. Wesleyan 2 (25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 10-25,
15-12)
Catholic vs. Emory & Henry, 7:30
p.m.
Saturday, October 9
Court 1
Meredith vs. Emerson, 9 a.m.
Gallaudet vs. Sweet Briar, 11 a.m.
Pool A 3rd place vs. Pool B 3rd place, 1 p.m.
Pool A 1st place vs. Pool B 1st place, 3 p.m.
Court 2
N.C. Wesleyan vs. Emory & Henry, 9 a.m.
Catholic vs. Penn St.-Behrend, 11 a.m.
Pool A 4th place vs. Pool B 4th place, 1 p.m.
Pool A 2nd place vs. Pool B 2nd place, 3 p.m.
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