Washington Tops Wesley, Bryn Athyn and Gwynedd-Mercy

DOVER, DE – Junior outside hitter Alyssa Forget (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) became the 12th Shorewomen to record 500 kills as the Washington College volleyball team won all three of its matches to win the Wesley Invitational on Sunday at Wentworth Gym.  The Shorewomen bested Wesley, 3-0, (25-14, 25-23, 25-13), topped Bryn Athyn, 3-0, (25-18, 25-14, 25-15) and downed Gwynedd-Mercy, 3-0, (25-14, 25-6, 25-16).  Washington is now 6-8 on the season.

Forget netted her milestone kill in the opening set against Wesley on a feed from freshman setter Lauren White (Huntingtown, MD/Huntingtown) to make it 14-4.  The kill capped an 11-0 run for WC.  The Shorewomen led 20-14 before closing out the set with five straight points, capping the first set on a kill by sophomore outside hitter Jenny Lee (Wilmington, DE/Mount Pleasant).

In the second set, WC jumped out to an 11-3 lead before Wesley went on a 20-13 spurt to reduce the lead to 24-23 on a Carle Ax service ace, but the Shorewomen got a kill from freshman Julia Erbe (Baltimore, MD/Pikesville) to close out the set.  In the final set, WC scored the first five points and ended the match on a Lee block.

Forget had 13 kills to lead all players in the win and added six digs, while Lee recorded a match-best four aces to go with eight kills.  White had her second straight double-double with 26 assists and a career-high 12 digs.  Senior middle hitter Maria Whitman (Galesville, MD/Southern) had a career-best seven digs and added seven kills.

For Wesley (1-15), Ax had 13 assists, while Ashlynn Maloy added 10 digs.

In match two of the day versus Bryn Athyn (1-4), WC jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first set on a Lions' attack error and never let Bryn Athyn get within five points the rest of the set.  In the second set, the Shorewomen scored 18 of the last 24 points to take the set, closing it on a Forget kill.  In the third and final set, Washington jumped out to a 21-8 lead en route to a 25-15 win and a sweep of the match. 

Lee hit .667 in the victory for Washington, netting 12 kills in just 18 attempts with zero errors, while White handed out 21 assists.  The Shorewomen netted 14 service aces in the triumph, with Whitman netting a career-best three aces.

For the Lions, Brooke Blair dished out 12 assists, while Cree Gurney had seven kills.  Holly Adams led all players with eight digs.

In the final match against Gwynedd-Mercy (3-10), WC had 21 service aces en route to the three-set sweep.  Lee had five aces, while Daelemans and White each added four aces each.  The Shorewomen served 12 aces in the second set, accounting for 48 % of Washington's points in the set (12-of-25).  The Griffins did not win consecutive points in the entire second set.

In the first set, the Shorewomen turned a 6-3 Gwynedd-Mercy lead into a 10-6 Washington lead and the Shorewomen would not trail the rest of the set.  Washington won nine of the last 12 points to close out the opening set win.  In the third and final set, the Shorewomen scored 12 of the first 15 points to take control of the set.  An attack error by Gwynedd-Mercy ended the match and gave WC its third victory of the day.

White handed out 14 to lead Washington, while sophomore defensive specialist/libero Kaitlin Rowan (Damascus, MD/Damascus) had eight digs to lead the Shorewomen.

For Gwynedd-Mercy, Maria Stillwell had 15 assists to lead the Lions, while Kelly Mallon had nine digs to lead all players.

Forget now has 528 kills in her career at Washington College.

Washington returns to competition on Thursday night when they conclude at 10-match road trip at Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference action.  Match time in Baltimore is 7:00 p.m.