SALEM, VA. — The Southern Virginia University women's volleyball team took on Roanoke College Thursday night, defeating the Maroons in a five-set thriller 3-2. 

Notable Stats

• Sydney Hopkin: Game-high and career-high 21 kills, career-high .436 hitting average
• Brenna Clyde: career-high 15 kills, career-high .462 hitting average
• Courtney Pinkston: Double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs
• Elle Warnick: Game-high 49 assists, three blocks, one service ace
• Emma Steiger: Game-high 23 digs and game-high four service aces

Game Notes

First Set:

• The Knights kept the first set close, holding onto a two-point lead 12-10, but Roanoke used an 11-2 run to jump to a 21-14 advantage
• The Maroons closed set one with a final 4-2 run to take the 1-0 lead

Second Set:

• Both teams went back and forth with points, with Southern Virginia scoring four points off of service aces to go up 12-11
• The Knights used a 7-1 scoring run led by Taryn Kartchner, Brenna Clyde, and Sydney Hopkin each recording two kills and Elle Warnick quarterbacking the offense to go up 19-12
•  Both sides traded points, but Southern Virginia tied the match up 1-1 after locking in the 25-18 set victory

Third Set:

• The Knights went up 7-4 early, with Sydney Hopkin still heating up with four more kills
• Roanoke worked their way to a 12-9 advantage, but both squads traded scoring runs, and the lead
• At the end of the set, the Maroons had a comfortable 23-19 lead, but a kill from Courtney Pinkston and a huge block from Elle Warnick and Taryn Kartchner forced Roanoke to take a timeout
• Following the timeout, Southern Virginia tied it up 23-23, but two consecutive Roanoke points put them up 2-1 in the match

Fourth Set:

• The Knights wasted no time establishing a 10-3 lead 
• The Maroons fought and tied the set up at 14, and points began to be exchanged again
• Southern Virginia began to pull away at the end of the set 22-19, and after a quick point by Roanoke, Courtney Pinkston closed the set with three straight kills

Fifth Set:

• With momentum in their favor, Southern Virginia built a 10-4 lead, led by three Brenna Clyde kills
• The Maroons closed the game to three, 10-7, but the Knights called game with a final 5-1 run led by three Sydney Hopkin kills and included a huge block by Elle Warnick and Katelyn Chamberlain

Southern Virginia will prepare for a double-header weekend, taking on Virginia Union and Mary Baldwin on Saturday, September 18. Game one is scheduled for 2 pm, while game two is scheduled for 4 pm. 

Follow the women's volleyball team @knightwvolleyball on Instagram and @knightwvolley on Twitter for more updates and details.