WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Elon University volleyball senior outside hitter Kam Terry came one kill shy of tying the program record for kills in a match Saturday, Sept. 8, as Elon split the final day of the Wake Forest Invitational with Akron and Georgia Southern.
 
"I really liked the fight in our team today," said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. "When we got pushed, we always stayed confident and pushed back. Akron did a better job at finishing sets than we did, but we bounced back well against Georgia Southern. We had many players contributing today but Kam was unbelievable. She was playing a complete game at the net hitting a variety of shots and it was fun to watch."
 
Akron 3, Elon 1 | 25-19, 25-17, 17-25, 25-22
THE RUNDOWN
Elon opened the day with a 14-9 lead before a 7-1 Akron run put the Zips ahead 16-15. With the Phoenix winning four of the next five points looking to take the set, Akron made another comeback with an 8-0 run to claim the first set 25-19.
 
In a tight second set, the two teams battled back and forth until Akron put some distance between the two with a 6-0 run to make it 14-9. While Terry put an end to the run with a kill, Akron started a new one at 3-0 to go up 17-12 and went on to close the set 25-17.
 
Looking to climb back in, Elon used an 11-3 run to open the third set thanks to three Terry kills, a pair of aces and a couple Akron errors. While Akron evened from there, the Phoenix already had a margin to large to rebound from on the way to a 25-17 third-set victory.
 
Like the third set, the Phoenix opened the fourth on a nice run at 6-2 before Akron came back within one at 8-7. Elon used another spurt to go up 18-11 and looked on its way to send things to a fifth set, but the Zips mounted a comeback and ultimately put the match away with a 25-22 win.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Kam Terry had 22 kills and 12 digs for a double-double to go with a .333 hitting percentage. Nori Thomas also had nine kills and Leah Daniel had six. Both Maddie Jaudon and Isabella Seman had a team-best 12 digs with Erin Kelly finishing with 11.
 
Elon 3, Georgia Southern 1 | 22-25, 25-16, 27-25, 25-17
THE RUNDOWN
Down early in the first set at 11-5, Georgia Southern kept the Phoenix at bay after it made a run to get back within one at 11-10 by going on an 8-1 run of its own to lead 20-12. Though a 7-2 run brought the Phoenix back within two at 24-22, it was too little too late with the Eagles closing the set at 25-22 thanks to a service error.
 
In the second, though, Elon used a 6-0 run to open up an 8-4 lead before going on another run – this time at 13-3 – to take a commanding 21-10 lead on the way to Madi Genaway closing the set with a kill.
 
While Georgia Southern tried to jump back on top with an early third-set lead at 8-3, the Phoenix chipped back and ultimately took a 13-12 lead. Though the Eagles reclaimed the advantage with a 3-0 run, the Phoenix answered again with an 8-2 run to go back up four at 21-17. While the two battled to 25-all, kills by Terry and Kellyn Trowse closed the set to put the Phoenix up 2-1.
 
To start the fourth, Terry posted five consecutive kills to bring a Georgia Southern timeout. In all, Terry had 11 kills in the fourth set on the way to posting 32 kills to fall one short of Velma Degree's program record of 33 back on Oct. 9, 1993, against Presbyterian.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
After Terry's 32 kills with just six errors for a .400 hitting percentage to go with seven digs and three blocks, Seman also set a new career high with 17 digs. Kodi Garcia finished with 43 assists and Jaudon had 10 digs.
 
UP NEXT
Elon will close its four-match road trip with a trip to Duke on Wednesday, Sept. 12. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.