Wildcats Down Eagles 3-2 at Wake Forest Invite

Friday, August 31

Winston-Salem, N.C.

4:30 pm

Davidson College Athletics

2-0

Winthrop

3-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Winthrop	25	17	15	25	13	2
Davidson	9	25	25	14	15	3

Wildcats Down Eagles 3-2 at Wake Forest Invite

8/31/2012 8:17:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ashley Bailey

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After a rocky first set, the Davidson volleyball team battled to a 3-2 win over the Winthrop Eagles to move to 2-0 on the season on Friday evening at the Wake Forest Invitational.

Tindall Sewell, who led the NCAA in hitting percentage last season, led the 'Cats with 16 kills and a .696 hitting percentage in the match. Caroline Brown added 15 kills, nine digs and two solo blocks while senior Molly Crenshaw had 16 digs. Megan Chamberlin also had a solid day; recording a team-high five service aces and 17 digs. Hannah Rau also produced two service aces in the match and Ariel Ley had 49 assists.

Stephanie Palmer had a team-high 14 kills for the Eagles, while Catherine Brusie led the way with 18 digs. Kristin Cruse added in a pair of service aces, and Amy Zimmer posted a pair of block assists.

The Wildcats stumbled in the first set, finding themselves down 6-1 early on. Rau was able to pick up two points on block assists, combining with Taylor Pisel on the first and Ley on the second, but a service ace by Jessica Codato put the Eagles in front 13-3. Sewell added a pair of kills, but the 'Cats couldn't work their way out of the hole and fell 25-9.

A stronger Davidson team showed in the second set, as the 'Cats were able to keep things tight despite an early 5-2 Winthrop lead on a kill by Stephanie Palmer. Five straight kills by the 'Cats and a block by Brown tied the set at 7-7 before two more kills would push them ahead 11-8. Three consecutive miscues by the Eagles, along with a pair of kills from Rau, kept the Wildcats in front 16-13. Chamberlin produced trio of service aces and a kill before a kill by Sewell would finish things off as the 'Cats took the set 25-17.

Rolling into the third set, the 'Cats took a 6-2 lead on a kill by Sewell from Ley. A kill from Brown stretched the advantage to six at 10-4, and the squad was able to ride the lead from there. Back-to-back kills from Brown put Davidson ahead by eight and a pair of aces from Chamberlin ended the set at 25-15.

The 'Cats were unable to finish off the match in the next set, as they fell behind 7-3 on an ace by Winthrop's Jennica Mullins. A kill by Rachel Lenz put the Eagles in front by 10, and the 'Cats were unable to overcome the deficit as they fell 25-14.

Capitalizing on some Winthrop errors, Davidson took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker set before a kill from Lenz tied things up. Pisel had a pair of kills as the 'Cats went ahead once again and a kill from Chamberlin gave the team the 15-13 win in the set for the 3-2 match victory.

The Wildcats will conclude their appearance in the Wake Forect Invite tomorrow, facing the host Demon Deacons at 12:30 p.m. before wrapping things up with a 4:30 p.m. match against UNCW.