ATLANTA, Ga. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team had a big comeback in third set after trailing 18-13 to stay alive, but No. 18 WashU was able to hang on in the fourth set and take a 3-1 win over the No. 16 Athenas on Friday on the first day of the East West Classic hosted by Emory.
Set scores were 28-26, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20 in favor of the Bears. The loss was the first of the year for CMS, which slips to 3-1, while WashU improves to 4-1 with the win.Â
Phoebe Shorney had 10 kills,
Shae Delany had nine and
Ashlee Sento added eight for the Athenas. Delany had 23 digs and
Elise Arends recorded 21, while
Stella Gajar had six blocks and Shorney added five. Setters
Hayden Lin (18 assists, 12 digs) and
Samantha Riter (15 assists, 11 digs) each had double-doubles.Â
CMS was down 16-9 in the first set before rallying to force extra points. A 6-0 run gave the Athenas a 23-19 on a Riter ace, but WashUÂ was able to fight off two set points to tie it 24-24.
Lauren Staples had a kill to put CMS ahead 25-24, and Sento had one to make it 26-25, but Leah Oyewole had the final two kills of the set for a 28-26 win.Â
The Athenas trailed 20-16 in the third set on the brink of being swept, but came back with a big rally, pulling even at 21-21 on a Delany kill and moving ahead 23-21 on a
Skye Dunn ace.
Ari Clarkson had a kill to make it 24-22, and Riter finished it off with a fake set turned kill.Â
WashU had leads of 8-1 and 19-10 in the fourth, when the Athenas tried to rally again, pulling within 23-19 after a 4-0 run that featured two Delany kills and two blocks from Shorney and
Solvej Eversoll. The Bears, though, were able to finish it off 25-20 and take the match.Â
CMS will be back in action tomorrow to take on Colby and East Texas Baptist on the second day of the East West Classic.Â
