CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Earlham College volleyball team began its 2022 campaign with a 3-1 win over Wilmington College at the Mount St. Joseph Tournament on Friday afternoon. 

Maria Young led the offense with 18 kills and posted a hitting percentage of .316. The junior hitter also scored two aces. Liv Kyrk had an efficient day on the court with 12 kills and only one error for a .423 clip. Kyrk also led the Quakers with two blocks. 

Erin Wagner dished out 39 assists and had four serving aces. Wagner joined Jen Shamel atop the digs leaderboard with 17 and 19 respectively. 

With an even score, Wilmington took seven straight points to jump ahead in set one. EC stayed within reach for the remainder of the set, but could not claw back the deficit.

Earlham trailed 9-6 in set two after giving up a four-point run to Wilmington, but swiftly worked back the score. EC took the lead 14-13 after a kill from Aniyah Harrington with a set from Wagner. The Quakers won the set 25-21 from a four-point run with Wagner serving. 

Despite trailing early in the third set, Earlham took the lead in the set after scoring four consecutive points from Akiko Tajima serves to lead 17-14. EC outscored Wilmington 14-4 to end the set. 

Wilmington led the early points of set four before a 6-1 run by EC turned the tide. After going up 16-14, Earlham held onto the lead for the remainder of the match. 

The Quakers will continue the tournament tomorrow against Ohio Wesleyan and Illinois Wesleyan at 10 am and noon respectively.