Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College volleyball team failed to find its rhythm on Saturday afternoon falling in straight sets to the visiting Washington & Jefferson University Presidents 25-18, 25-22, and 25-19.
As a team, the Yeowomen hit just .098 for the match with 31 kills against 21 errors.
Josie Macdonald and
Cami Sweet led the attack with seven kills apiece while first-year
Evelyn Welton chipped in six.
Iris Archibald guided the back row with 13 digs with
Zeynep Kaya adding nine.
Jillian Jendsen dished out 19 assists while
Makela Reid also contributed nine helpers in the loss.
Oberlin raced out to a quick 5-1 lead in the opening set but the Presidents came roaring back and never relented the rest of the way. A 6-0 W&J response forced an early timeout but Oberlin was never able to refind its footing after the restart. Back-to-back attack errors by the visitors had the Yeowomen within striking distance at 20-17 but unfortunately, they mustered just one more point for the remainder of the set.
It was nip-and-tuck throughout the second stanza with Oberlin eventually leveling the session at 17-17 on a Macdonald kill. Two consecutive kills from Rian Benz left W&J just two points away from clinching the set with a 23-20 lead in hand. A pair of finishes from Welton got the Yeowomen back to within two on two separate occasions but one of Faith Fetsko's game-high 13 kills would ultimately finish off the frame.
Hoping to extend the match to a fourth set, Oberlin would take a 13-12 lead at the midway point of the third but W&J had other ideas, ripping off seven straight points to leave little doubt in the outcome.
The Presidents hit .208 en route to earning their first win of the season. In addition to Fetsko, Oberlin struggled to slow down Sophie Little in the middle as she hammered home eight kills on 16 swings for a .438 success rate while Benz ended at .412 with nine finishes on 17 attempts.
Oberlin will look to get back on track on Wednesday night when it travels to Capital University for a 7 p.m. match.
