Women's Volleyball | 9/17/2011 8:11:00 PM

WINCHESTER, Va. - The Methodist volleyball team (7-2, 2-1) opened up play on Saturday with a 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13) win over Shenandoah University before falling 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-21) to Averett University.

Shenandoah led 8-6 early in the first set, but Methodist went on a 5-0 run. The Hornets regained a 13-11 lead, but Methodist took the 25-23 win with a kill by Jalesty Washington. Shenandoah jumped out to the 8-3 lead in the second set. Methodist cut the lead to two at 10-8 before Shenandoah went on to win 25-16. The third set was tight early with nine ties, but Methodist finished on a 5-2 run to win 25-21. The Hornets came from behind to win the fourth set 25-21 and force the fifth and final set. The Monarchs took the early lead and held on for the 15-13 win.

Jalesty Washington led the team with 17 kills and 12 digs while Stephanie Wood added 10 kills. Kayci Miller finished with 52 assists and eight digs.

In the second match of the day, Methodist took control early with a 6-1 lead thanks in part to two aces from Kayci Miller. Averett stormed back with a run of their own to take the 11-8 lead. The set was tied at every point from 11 through 18, but Averett battled for the 25-22 win. The second set was back and forth and tied at 21 with Methodist's serve. Averett went on to win 25-22. Stephanie Wood had two early kills in the third set to set the tone, but the Cougars came back with a big run to go ahead 18-9. Methodist rallied for a 11-3 run and trailed just 21-20. Averett called a timeout to regroup and finished with the 25-21 win to secure the match victory.

Wood led the team with 10 kills while Hayley Williams added nine. Miller had 31 assists while Rachel Evans paced the Monarchs with 10 digs.

Methodist will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Meredith College at 7 p.m.

Box Score 1
Box Score 2