White, Rivera and Lee Set Career Highs On Saturday

Chestertown, MD – Host Washington College split a pair of matches on Saturday at the 35th Annual Penny Fall Classic at the Cain Athletic Center in non-conference volleyball action.  The Shorewomen swept Kean University, 3-0, (25-22, 25-17, 29-27) in the final match of the day, while falling to Widener University, 3-2, (27-29, 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 15-8) in the first match of the classic.  Widener topped Kean, 3-0, (25-16, 25-21, 25-21) in the middle match.

Against Kean (9-9), in the first set, WC used a 7-1 run to snap an 8-8 tie and take a 15-9 lead.  The Shorewomen closed out the opening set on a kill by sophomore outside hitter Jenny Lee (Wilmington, DE/Mount Pleasant).  Washington used a 12-4 run to break a 13-13 tie to win 25-17 in the middle set.  A service ace by freshman setter Lauren White (Huntingtown, MD/Huntingtown) sealed the set.  The Cougars rallied from a 24-18 deficit to take a 25-24 lead in the last set on a kill by Nicole Bolash.  Kean led 26-25, but Washington College (7-10) grabbed three of the last four points to take the set.  Lee tallied the match point on a kill.

Lee had a match-best and career-high 16 kills and hit .452 for the hosts in the Kean match.  Sophomore defensive specialist Rita Rivera (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth-Whitemarsh) had a match-topping 14 digs, while White dished out 31 assists to lead all participants.  The Shorewomen served up 13 aces in the win.

For the Cougars, Bolash had 11 kills and Jamie Sacco had 10 kills for Kean.  Colleen Masterson handed out 18 assists. 

Versus Widener (11-8), the Shorewomen won the last three points to grab the opening set, 29-27.  Junior outside hitter Alyssa Forget (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) clinched the set with a kill.  The Pride won the next two sets, but WC won the fourth set 25-19 to force a fifth set, but Widener won eight of the final nine points to win the fifth and final set by a 15-8 count.

For the Pride, Jamie Ballew and Angela DiMaria both had a double-doubles.  Ballew had 46 assists and 22 digs, while DiMaria had 12 kills and 12 digs.  Heather Long had 15 kills and Alectra Edison added 10 kills.  Meghan Spence had 30 digs and Erin Gravelle totaled 17 digs.

White established career-highs in assists (48) and digs (24) for her third double-double of the season.  Rivera shattered her career best in digs with 35, almost doubling her previous high of 18 digs set earlier this season.  Lee had her third double-double of the campaign with 19 digs and 14 kills.  Forget had 16 kills, while freshman outside hitter Julia Erbe (Baltimore, MD/Pikesville) added 11 finishers via the kill.

In the middle match, Widener 10 kills from Heather Long and 13 digs from Spence in the sweep.  Ballew had 31 assists to lead the Pride and all players.  Kean's Mary Aldana led all players with 14 digs, while Bolash chipped in with 13 digs.  Masterson had 22 assists for the Cougars.

Washington is back at home on Tuesday night with a 7:00 p.m. Centennial Conference clash versus Swarthmore.