Washington, PA – Just a day after surpassing 3,000 career assists, senior setter
Meredith Leung recorded another milestone in the Yeowomen's split with Thiel and Washington & Jefferson on Saturday.
Leung, a native of Lomita, California, had 17 digs over the two matches to run her career total to 1,000.
She helped the Yeowomen to a straight-set win over the Tomcats (25-21, 25-18, 25-12), and added 10 digs and 23 assists in a close 3-1 (19-25, 17-25, 29-27, 26-28) setback to the Presidents.
Thiel Recap
The Yeowomen had their way with the Tomcats, hitting an impressive .313 as a team with a diverse attack.
First-year phenom
Lexi Mitchell led the charge with nine kills on 17 swings, while
Dana Thomas and
Maura Gibbs each added eight. Senior
Maggie Middleton was also productive in the interior up front as she hammered home seven finishes of her own.
Leung and Sarah Chang had the 6-2 system working in rhythm as they orchestrated the attack. Leung had 22 assists to go along with her seven digs, while Chang had 13 helpers in the match.
Gibbs led the Yeowomen from behind the backline as she dropped in three of the team's seven aces in the match.
In the opening 25-21 win, the Yeowomen had to rally from an early 8-4 deficit, but would get it to even at 10-10 and then battled to overtake the Tomcats.
They would use that momentum to cruise in the next two games as the eventual outcome was never in doubt.
Emily Kelkar led the defensive effort with 11 digs, while
Krista Langhans aided the effort with eight.
W&J Recap
In the match-up with the Presidents, the Yeowomen were held to an .081 attack percentage, but used their outstanding serving ability to stay in the match throughout.
In both the third and fourth games, the teams needed to go past the 25-point mark to determine a winner and unfortunately for the Yeowomen it would be the Presidents who prevailed in the end.
Oberlin found a weakness in the middle of the W&J net as
Dana Thomas was a big key as she finished with a game-high 15 kills. Gibbs, Chang, and
Ave Spencer each added seven in the setback.
Leung dished out 23 more assists, added 10 digs and accounted for three of the team's 10 aces. Rookie
Samantha Lam aided the cause with 16 helpers of own.
Gibbs (17) and Laghans (16) spearheaded the defense with a combined 33 digs.
After failing to put much pressure on the Presidents in the first two sets, the Yeowomen made some mid-match adjustments that worked wonders.
In the third set, the Yeowomen rallied from an 8-3 deficit to capture a 17-14 lead. The Presidents fought back to make it 24-24 and the two foes would trade points until an ace by Gibbs gave Oberlin the game, 29-27.
In game four it appeared all but over as Oberlin trailed 24-19, but six straight points during Kelkar's serve had the Yeowomen just one more point away from forcing a fifth set. Unfortunately, the Presidents finally stopped the run and went on to win 28-26.
Oberlin will now head west to California over fall break to take on Occidental (Oct. 19/ 9 p.m.), Pomona-Pitzer (Oct. 21/10 p.m.) and Chapman (Oct. 22 / 2 p.m.).
