RALEIGH, N.C. - In Sunday's final non-conference duel of the season, the Meredith volleyball team defeated Emory and Henry 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-15).

The Avenging Angels jumped out to an impressive 7-1 start in the first stanza. The teams exchanged points during the next series before Katelyn Rall found the gap to finish a long rally to keep the Wasps at a distance 12-6.

Karlie Long landed a service ace and rookie Elizabeth Pattison subbed in for a kill at 15-8, and Long crushed a ball from the outside at 18-11 to place an exclamation point on Meredith's intentions.

The Wasps continued to rally and capitalized on a trio of mishandles from the Avenging Angels. But Anna Hayes put an end to the errors to get the ball back at 21-14.

Emory and Henry stole a pair of points, but a blast from Rall off the hands of Hayes gave the serve back to MC. Jasmine Aguinaldo landed a service ace and Pattison won the battle at the net to finish off the set for a 1-0 match lead.

The second frame opened with a 2-1 Wasp advantage when Hayes found a hole in the deep corner to set even the score. Long crushed the next ball form Clarke Glendenning and Hayes served up an ace to continue the run.

Freshman defensive specialist and libero Emery McGee handled the backrow for MC and Hayes exposed another gap in the Wasp defense to keep the wasps out of system at 6-3.

The visitors pitched in a couple of points but gave the ball back to Meredith on a service error. Aguinaldo connected on four consecutive aces to pull away from E & H 14-5.

After a brief surge from the Wasps, Rall landed a blow from the rightside to interrupt the run. The 4-1 MC series kept Emory and Henry briefly at bay.

But a pair of unforced Meredith turnovers followed by a kill from Wasp Tristen Pennington forced Head Coach Fiona Barkley to whistle for a timeout.

Meredith responded with a perfect pass from Lynch to Glendenning to set up Markley for the kill at 19-12.

Another flurry of unforced turnovers helped the Wasps pull back to within three at 23-20, but a second break in the action by Barkley settled Meredith just enough to close out the set for a 2-0 match lead.

Meredith put together a trio of kills early in the third frame to jump ahead 4-1. But a 5-2 Wasp run set the score back to an even 6-6.

Srong court awareness from the Meredith squad helped the Avenging Angels win two points to snuff the rising flame of their opponents. Lynch on the backrow combined with Aguinaldo at the net kept MC out in front.

Jessica Goodwin landed a kill, and Markley set up for a block to end a rally and cap off a 3-0 Meredith run at 17-12.

The Wasps continued to battle before another Goodwin blast ignited a 5-0 Avenging Angel run to extend Meredith's to match-point at 24-14. E & H held on tight, but Markley closed out the win on a blast from the middle.

Markley landed six of eight attempts with no errors on .750 hitting. Long led all with 15 kills, adding 13 digs for the only double-double on the day. Aguinaldo served up six aces and pitched in four kills and a block. Hayes added six kills, 19 assists, and Glendenning dished out 19 as well. Lynch and McGee combined for 26 digs in the win.

Pennington led the Wasps with nine kills, and Kelly Mae Kerlin tallied 16 digs.

Meredith hosts cross-town rival William Peace Thursday, October 3, in a 7 p.m. conference match. The teams will battle for sole ownership of second place in the USA South North division.