BOX SCORES: WASH U. / HENDRIX
SATURDAY COVERAGE:
Webster (10:30 am CT): (LIVE STATS / VIDEO)
Dominican (12:30 pm CT): (LIVE STATS)
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology earned the first win over a nationally ranked team in the history of the Fightin' Engineer volleyball program, defeating Hendrix College 21-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22 on Friday night.
The victory followed a tightly contested match against No. 3 ranked Washington University that foreshadowed the possibility of a historic win. The defending national runner-up Bears defeated Rose-Hulman but had to battle for a 25-19, 31-29, 27-25 victory.
The win over Hendrix also marked the first victory for interim head coach Heather Schierer Davis on the inaugural night of her coaching career.
Rose-Hulman relied on a balanced team performance to top Hendrix. After falling 25-21 in the first set, the Fightin' Engineers controlled the scoring throughout sets two and three. The matched closed with Rose-Hulman building a nearly double-digit lead in the final set, before Hendrix showcased its talents and closed the final tally to 25-22.
Bailey MacInnis led Rose-Hulman with 13 kills against the Warriors, and freshman Grace Beach contributed nine kills. Katie Orbeta had team-highs of 26 assists and 17 digs. Alison Rogozinski pitched in 15 assists, and Gabi Razma recorded 12 digs.
Mackenzie Gossard paced the Fightin' Engineers with one solo block and five assists. MacInnis had four block assists, and Mia Styczynski added one solo block and three assists.
In the opener, Washington University showed its strength with a hard fought, three-set win. The Fightin' Engineers had three game points in set two and one game point in set three before the Bears rallied to earn each win.
MacInnis led the Rose-Hulman offense with 14 kills, and Adekite Oladipupo added nine. Orbeta recorded 21 assists, with Razma pacing the defensive effort with 20 digs.
Styczynski led the blocking effort with one solo block and three block assists. Becca Poppel recorded a team-high four service aces to provide depth.
Rose-Hulman will conclude the Washington University Invitational on Saturday, facing Webster at 10:30 a.m. CT and Dominican at 12:30 p.m. CT.
