Lynchburg, Va. -- In a back-and-forth battle that went down to the wire, the University of Lynchburg women's volleyball team had their stars shine bright on the way to a five-set victory against Washington and Lee on Saturday morning in Turner Gym.

Less than 24 hours after taking down Bridgewater in four sets, the Hornets (13-1, 3-0) knocked off the reigning ODAC champion Generals (11-1, 2-1), the sixth-ranked team in the nation heading into today's match. In a match that combined for a whopping 216 total points across all three sets, Lynchburg snagged the final two frames by two points in each.

The offense showed out across the board with 73 total team kills, the fifth-most in a match program history. Three different athletes racked up 16-or-more kills across the five sets, led by Kate Hardie with a season-best 18 on 48 attempts for a .271 hitting percentage.

The middles showed dominance throughout the contest as Ava Meinhardt tallied a career-high 17 kills on 31 attempts for an impressive .419 hitting percentage and Leah DiNardo threw down season-high 16 kills on 38 attempts for a hitting percentage of .316.

The Hornets jumped out in front from the opening whistle, claiming a 5-2 advantage in the first set and leading the rest of the way. Lynchburg pulled away in the middle of the frame with a 9-2 run that saw four different performers notch kills: Jacqueline Bryant, Hardie, Meinhardt, and DiNardo. That rally allowed the Hornets to double the Generals' total, 16-8. WLU responded with a 9-2 run of its own to cut the deficit to one, 18-17, but the Hornets held onto the edge and finished the frame on top, 25-21.

The Generals retaliated to open the second set, scoring the first three points and pushing to a 13-3 lead. Eventually trailing 20-8, the Hornets regained momentum with a 9-1 run that brought them within four, 21-17. Kailey Keough produced two kills and an ace during the stretch while Meinhardt added two to her kill total. Though Lynchburg came close, the Generals closed it out with a 25-19 set win.

In the all-important third set, WLU jumped out to a 4-0 edge, but the Hornets quickly responded, taking the next three points. With the Generals up 6-4, Hardie served up three aces and Keough launched two kills as Lynchburg strung together seven consecutive points to lead 11-6. The Hornets' narrow lead swung between two to five points for most of the frame before Washington and Lee cut its deficit to one with three straight points, 18-17.

The next 10 points of set three alternated between sides until the scoreboard read 23-22 in favor of Lynchburg. A Generals block and Lynchburg attack error allowed WLU to own a 24-23 advantage. After a Keough kill knotted the score at 24 apiece, Hardie, who had four aces leading up to this point, served it into the net. A solid rally for the set-clinching point finished with a Keough attack that narrowly missed the fingertips of a General and hit out of bounds, giving Washington and Lee the 26-24 set win.

The fourth frame began similarly to the previous two with WLU scoring the first five points. The visitors held onto a lead between four and six points before Lynchburg heated up, rallying to a 5-1 run that had Tori Williamson throw down three kills, inching to within two points at 13-11. Although the Generals immediately answered with three consecutive points and later led 20-14, the Hornets pieced together runs of five and four points to steal the lead, 24-22. DiNardo and Bryant each tallied two kills in those runs while Williamson added one and an ace. After a service error from Williamson, Hardie smacked it down to secure the set, 25-23.

The intensity ramped up on both sides in the fifth and final frame as the squads got out to an even 4-4 start. The next five points were taken by the Hornets as Meinhardt smashed back-to-back kills, tallied a block assist along with Bryant, and Williamson capped the run with a kill. After trading points, WLU put together a 5-1 rally that brought the score within one, 11-10. Lynchburg never let up its edge. Each side exchanged points the rest of the way and the Hornets came out with the match win with a 15-13 victory in set five, thanks to two kills from Hardie and the final game-sealing kill by Meinhardt.

On the Generals' side, Riley Debeic totaled a game-high 24 kills on her way to 1,000 for her collegiate career. Cara Hamil was close behind with 21 kills on 59 attempts for a .203 hitting percentage and got 20 digs. Additionally, Vivi Vasquez led the match in digs with 31 and Sienna Nicholson totaled a match-best 45 assists.

Following its first win against a top-10 ranked team in the nation in the AVCA Coaches Poll in program history, Lynchburg ranks atop the ODAC standings alongside Virginia Wesleyan and Randolph-Macon with an unblemished conference record. Next up on the slate, the Hornets travel to the nation's capital to face Catholic in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.

Visit Lynchburg athletics' home online, LynchburgSports.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Hornets sports and coverage from the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network.

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