SPORTS
Women’s Volleyball Wins A-10 Season Opener
The Wildcats opened their A-10 season with the win over Duquesne.
DAVIDSON — As the Atlantic 10 portion of his team’s schedule began Friday night, Wildcats volleyball coach Chris Willis saw a tight match unfold “that could’ve gone either way.”
Sophomore Hattie Rodriguez goes up for the kill.
The home match with Duquesne, though, went the way of the Wildcats, 3-1 in Belk Arena.
“Couldn’t be happier starting the A-10 with a win over Duquesne,” he said. “We were fortunate enough to score points at the right time.”
Wildcats Hattie Rodriguez and Emma McLaughlin led the way with 16 and 13 kills, respectively, as Davidson won 25-19, 22-25, 25-23 and 27-25, ending it with a McLaughlin kill.
“It was a gritty win for us,” said Willis. “We really had to battle ourselves at times. We definitely had too many errors, and what bailed us out was our outside hitters, Hattie and Emma, getting just enough points for us to win the match. And Ellie Crosley was as efficient as ever.”
Crosley, a middle blocker, had nine kills and hit .500, helping improve her league-leading hitting percentage. Madeline Wynn also had nine kills and had a team-best eight blocks. Sydney Champaigne added 44 assists, and Josie Treadwell had 21 digs.
Sophomore Alison Jennings back to serve for the ‘Cats.
The win was No. 200 for Willis at the NCAA level, also including his time at Missouri Southern State. Ninety-six of those wins have come at Davidson.