HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Shenandoah University volleyball team snapped a three-match ODAC losing streak Saturday morning with a 3-1 victory over host Eastern Mennonite.
Shenandoah (11-14, 3-6 ODAC) dropped the opening set to EMU (9-15, 2-8) at 19 before coming back to win sets two through four 27-25, 25-18, 25-23.
Trailing 25-24 in the second, SU stole the victory with three straight points. Junior Ashleigh Tanis got the serve back with a kill before the Royals committed two attack errors to give the Hornets the set.
Shenandoah jumped out to a 16-10 lead in the third on its way to coasting home to the 25-18 win. SU again clinched the set victory thanks to an EMU attack error.
Eastern Mennonite appeared to be on the brink of tying matters at two sets each with a 19-15 lead in the fourth, but SU again had a rally in itself.
A 5-0 spurt with Katy Griffith at the service line tied the set score 20-20 and following a pair of serve rotations, Haley Smith and Rachel Gross had kills to bring the Hornets to within one point from victory at 24-22.
Eastern Mennonite had one last gasp in itself, getting a kill, before Smith closed matters out with her 14th and final kill of the day.
Those 14 kills were a team-high for Smith while Gross added 12 and Samantha Schambach nine.
Jasmine Callahan fueled the offense with 34 assists and also had 17 digs.
Griffith matched Callahan's dig total.
Shenandoah returns home on Wednesday night in a 6:30 ODAC matchup against Lynchburg. This game is also the squad's annual Dig Pink contest.
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