Elon Volleyball Phoenix Edges UNCW in Five-Set Thriller

ELON, N.C. – Down 2-1 in the match, Elon University volleyball forced a fifth set and rallied from an 8-5 deficit to earn a 3-2 conference win over UNCW Friday night, Oct. 19, at Schar Center.

RESULTS

“I was extremely proud of our team tonight for fighting back after losing the second and third sets,” said head coach Mary Tendler. “They just refused to give in to a very good UNC-Wilmington team. We played really good defense for most of the night and our outside hitters were able to score. Now we have to get some rest and prepare for Delaware on Sunday.”

It marks the third win in a row for the Phoenix, who improves to 11-9 overall with a 2-6 mark in league play. UNCW falls to 11-7, 4-4.

THE RUNDOWN
Neither team could create much separation in set one as the two squads traded the lead five times. After the maroon and gold benefited from consecutive UNCW attack errors to pull even at 20-all, the Phoenix closed out the set with a 5-2 run to go ahead in the match.

The Seahawks took over from there with a pair of 25-16 decisions. The visitors scored six unanswered to pull away late in set two. UNCW then opened set three with an 8-1 advantage and never looked back.

Set four was much of the same as set one. After UNCW scored three-straight points to wrestle back the lead at 23-22, a Kam Terry kill kicked off a 4-1 response as Elon forced extra time.

In the decisive set, an ace put the Seahawks in control at 8-5 as the Phoenix called a timeout. Madi Genawaycame out of the break determined as the sophomore earned three-straight kills to highlight a 5-0 Elon run. The guests would knot the score at 13-all, but another pair of scores by Genaway gave the Phoenix the comeback win.

HIGHLIGHTS
Terry scored 21-of-70 attacks for a .229 hitting percentage. The senior added 20 digs and three service aces, both season highs. Genaway also reached double-digit kills with 12. Kodi Garcia chipped in a season-high 44 assists, followed by Haylie Clark at 12. Maddie Jaudon also had a season-best 31 digs and Elizabeth Coilmade three solo blocks.

NOTES
-Genaway scored six of her 12 kills in the final set.
-Jaudon tallied 15 digs in set four alone. She needs 20 more to reach 1,800 in her career.
-Garcia is also approaching a career milestone. The sophomore is now 14 shy of reaching 1,900 career assists.
-The all-time series now stands at 21-15 in favor of the Seahawks.
-The match featured 27 ties and 15 lead changes.
-Elon scored one more kill (61-60), had 10 more assists (61-51), one more ace (9-8), and one additional dig (100-99).
-The 100 digs are a team-high this season.

UP NEXT.
Elon travels north to Newark, Del. this weekend for a 1 p.m. rematch with Delaware this Sunday, Oct. 21. The Phoenix held a 2-1 advantage over the Blue Hens on Oct. 7, but the visitors outlasted the maroon and gold in five sets to steal the win.