RALEIGH, N.C. – The Bridgewater College volleyball team picked up a a pair of wins over Piedmont and William Peace on Friday in day one of the Raleigh Invitational.

Match One:

THE BASICS
Final Score: Bridgewater 3, Piedmont 0 (27-25, 25-13, 25-21)
Records: Bridgewater 4-1, Piedmont 1-5

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• In a tightly contested first set Bridgewater busted out to a 3-0 lead coming off two errors on the Piedmont attack and a kill by Kylie Robinson. The Lions stuck around tying the score at five until Reagan Stoop fired a kill which then led to several attack errors from Piedmont allowed the Eagles to go up 10-5. BC continued to capitalize on the Lions' attack errors forcing them to call a time out with a Bridgewater in front 15-10. The Eagles maintained a close lead until back-to-back kills by Piedmont's Kaylee Ashcraft tied the score at 19-19 forcing BC to call a timeout of its own. The stoppage led to Stoop scoring off the attack with a nice set from Ashley Rutherford to give Bridgewater 20-19 edge. A kill by Piedmont followed up by an attack error from the Eagles allowed for the Lions to take the first lead of the frame at 23-21. Following another timeout called from BC's bench, Robinson scored on two consecutive kills to even it up at 23-23. Bridgewater brought the attack in the business end of the frame with kills coming from Rachael Meyers and Faith Shields recapturing the Eagles' lead 25-24. BC ended the set 27-25 following a service ace by Sophia Stites.
• The second set was quite the opposite for BC with the team firing on all cylinders. Two kills by Stoop and one by Gabby Atwell gave the Eagles a 6-1 advantage in the opening points of the set. Stoop continued on the attack with a service ace to give Bridgewater a 12-3 edge. At one point in the frame, BC led by as much as a 14-point margin. The Bridgewater attack was too much to handle for the Lions with Robinson clinching the set with two consecutive kills for the Eagles at 25-13.
• The two teams traded points early in the third set until Faith DePew scored on the attack, with an assist from Rutherford, to give Bridgewater its first lead of the set at  6-5. Rutherford continued her run of assists coming off kills from Robinson and Stoop that gave the Eagles a 9-6 advantage. A Brooklyn Williams block and a bad set by the Lions increased the score to 16-13, however; two kills, a block, and an attack error turned the tides quickly with Piedmont back in front 17-16. Atwell scored off a service ace to reclaim a lead of 19-17 and forced a Piedmont timeout. Grace Williams served up an ace to give Bridgewater a match point. The game ended on an attack error giving the Eagles a 25-21 win and the sweep.

MATCH STATS:

• The Eagles led the Lions in hitting percentage .264-.060 with Stoop leading with .461 and teammate DePew in second with .357.
• Stoop led the team in kills with 12 kills followed by sophomore, Robinson had nine and DePew ended with seven.
• DePew and Atwell each recorded two blocks in the three sets played.
• Bridgewater assisted on 38 of its attacks with Shields having 18 and Rutherford with 14.

Match Two:

THE BASICS
Final Score: Bridgewater 3, William Peace 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21)
Records: Bridgewater 5-1, William Peace 2-3

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Bridgewater carried its momentum over into the second matchup of the day starting off with five kills, four coming from the rookie Stoop and one from Meyers, to put BC in front 5-1. The run was nullified by the two teams trading kills until Brooklyn Williams fired a kill from a set by Shields followed by an attack error made by William Peace gave BC a 12-7 advantage. Two attack errors and a score from Atwell led the Pacers to call timeout behind 15-8. The stoppage proved effective in slowing down the Bridgewater attack earning three WPU kills and an attack error from the Eagles to make it 17-12. BC held off the Pacers' attempt of a comeback with kills from Robinson and Atwell forcing setpoint for the visitors. The freshman, Stoop ended the set, 25-19, with a kill from the hands of Rutherford.
• The Eagles fell behind 9-4 in the second set following multiple kills from the William Peace attack to force a timeout. Two consecutive kills from Robinson, both assisted by Rutherford, kick started the comeback for BC. Kills by Stoop led to a tie at 14-14 forcing the Pacers to call time. An attack error made by William Peace proved costly as BC took its first lead of the set 16-15. Meyers riffled a kill from a Shields' assist leading to back-to-back kills from Stoop to end the set 25-20.
• Bridgewater continued its fight going into the third set falling behind 8-4, but traded points with William Peace to bring the deficit down to two at 10-8. Stoop and Robinson paved the way for the Eagles' comeback with a kill each. Rutherford assisted on a Stoop kill leading to knot the frame up at 13-13. An attack error by the Pacers led to BC taking the first lead of the set 14-13. Following a William Peace timeout, the Pacers fought back after consecutive kills coming from Madeline Simpson and Grace Anderson to give them a 19-18 lead. A huge service ace by Grace Williams led to Bridgewater taking a 20-19 lead. The final attack scores were led by Brooklyn Williams who had a kill and a huge block. The Eagles captured the second sweep of the night ending the set with a score of 25-21.

MATCH STATS:

• Freshman, Stoop had a stellar performance racking up 21 kills with a .450 hitting percentage in all three sets while Robinson picked up 10 kills of her own.
• BC had three total blocks Atwell, Brooklyn Williams, and Meyers each had one.
• Shields led the team in assists with 20, followed by Rutherford with 18 and Stites with seven.
• Stites finished with 13 digs on the night while teammate Shields picked up 12 of her own.

 
UP NEXT:

The Eagles will stay in Raleigh for day two of the Raleigh Invitational  on Saturday to compete against St. Mary's (Md.), at 2 p.m., and Meredith, at 4 p.m.