LEXINGTON, Va. – Brynne Gould put down 11 kills and Anna Soroka set up 35 assists in Washington and Lee University’s 3-0 win over Guilford College Wednesday night in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal.
The second-seeded Generals advance to Friday’s semifinals to play third-seeded Bridgewater College, a 3-1 winner over the University of Lynchburg Wednesday. Top-seeded Randolph-Macon College, which hosts the semifinals and finals, meets number-four Virginia Wesleyan University in Friday’s other semifinal.
Guilford, seeded seventh in the eight-team field, ends its best season since 2010 with a 16-10 overall record.
Washington and Lee (19-12) hit .302 as a team and took advantage of 34 Quakers’ errors, including 24 hitting errors. An early 5-0 run by the hosts opened a 9-4 lead the Generals never relinquished in a 25-14 opening-set win. Washington and Lee committed only three hitting errors in the first set, which helped them to a .357 hitting percentage for the frame.
An early 6-1 run opened a 7-3 Washington and Lee edge in the second set. The margin grew to as many as 11 before a late Quakers’ flurry made it a 23-17 contest. A bad Guilford set followed by a hitting error resulted in a 25-17 Generals’ victory in set two.
A 4-0 Quakers’ spurt rallied Guilford to within 15-14 in what proved the decisive third set. Washington and Lee scored the next four points, three via Gould kills, leading to a Guilford timeout. The teams traded points before Washington and Lee closed the match with a 6-1 run that included two Ashleigh Meade kills.
Gould hit .259 for the match and added a solo block, which accounted for a team-best 12 points. Allison Webb chipped in eight kills, two service aces, and 11 points. Soroka added two kills, seven digs, and a block assist. Berry had seven kills and three blocks. Meade contributed four kills and a team-high 12 digs.
Guilford’s Christian Ritter (Asheboro, N.C./Eastern Randolph) led the team with eight kills, a match-high 13 digs, and three blocks. She finished the year with 411 digs, fifth-most in school history. Junior setter Tina Eucker distributed 20 assists and assumed sole possession of second place on the Quakers’ season assists (903) and assists per set (9.03) lists.
With no seniors on the roster, coach Emily Gann’s squad could return all 16 students next fall.