Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Elon University volleyball team was not able to overcome a two-set deficit and lost just its second Southern Conference match of the year at Davidson, 3-1 (19-25, 16-25, 25-22, 23-25), on Saturday afternoon. Elon drops to 13-10 on the season and 5-2 in SoCon play, while Davidson improves to 13-10 (4-2 SoCon).

 

“Davidson pushed us from the first whistle of the match and unfortunately it took us an hour to push back,” said Elon head volleyball coach Mary Tendler. “Once we fought back, we were able to do some things defensively and offensively. Hopefully we can learn from this and start the match off at Georgia Southern tomorrow much better.”

 

Seniors Sarah Schermerhorn and Lauren Copenhagen, along with junior Caroline Lemke, each recorded 12 kills in the match. Sophomore Allison Johnson earned 10 kills, while junior Megan McMahon helped the offense with 43 assists.

 

The defensive side of the ball was led by sophomore Ali Deatsch with 13 digs and Copenhagen who tallied 11 digs and two blocks. Lemke led the team with three blocks.

 

The first set began with a 3-1 Davidson lead, but after a kill by Johnson and a Wildcat error, Elon tied the game at three-all. After the score was tied at four points apiece, three straight kills by the Wildcats gave Davidson a 7-4 lead. The Phoenix did not let the game get out of hand and kept Davidson from pulling out to no more than a seven-point lead. With the set at a 22-15 Wildcat advantage, the Phoenix went on a three-point run that was capped by a kill from sophomore Celia Eddy to shorten the Davidson lead to four. Davidson was able to withstand the late Elon rally and take three of the next four points and win the set 25-19.

 

The two teams kept the score close at the beginning of the second set with a tie at every other point until the score reached a 5-4 Davidson advantage. The Wildcats were then able to go on several runs that gave Davidson a strong lead. The Phoenix was not able to overcome the deficit and dropped the set, 25-16, and went into the break down 2-0 to the Wildcats.

 

The third set started off with a 3-0 Elon lead and remained a Phoenix advantage at 6-1. The Wildcats rallied and pulled the score to within one point at 7-6. Consecutive kills by Schermerhorn and Johnson moved the Phoenix lead to 10-7 before three straight kills by the Wildcats tied the set at 11-all. Elon then went on a three-point run off of kills from McMahon, junior Traci Stewart and Lemke to move the score to 14-11. The two teams would trade off three-point runs until the score reached an 18-14 Elon advantage. After a kill by Johnson moved the set to 22-16, Davidson rallied off a six-point run to tie the score at 22-all. The Phoenix refused to let Davidson take the lead and the sweep and scored the final three points to take its first set of the afternoon, 25-22. Elon out-hit Davidson in the third set .298-.267, while Lemke recorded five kills and an individual .364 attack percentage.

 

In the fourth set, the Wildcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but two kills by Schermerhorn and Copenhagen and one by McMahon gave Elon a five-point run and the 9-8 lead, forcing Davidson to call a timeout. The set then turned in to a point-for-point game with the score tied after every other point from 12-all to 19-all until the Wildcats were able to hold the advantage at 21-19. The Phoenix pulled the game back to within one point at 23-22 and once again at 24-23, but Elon was not able to send the match into a deciding fifth set and dropped the fourth set, 25-23, and the match 3-1.

 

The Elon volleyball team will remain on the road and face Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga., at 2 p.m. tomorrow.