With match point up for grabs on Saturday afternoon, Waynesburg University sophomore Paige Mortimore leaped into the air and took a big swing for what would end up being her 18th kill of the game, solidifying a victory for the Yellow Jackets in an exhilarating five set win over Carlow University.

The three set to two victory was the fifth win for the Yellow Jackets on the season, which eclipses the team’s 2022 win total, and Head Coach Emily Grossman couldn’t be more proud of her group. 

“Super proud of this team and the work that we’re doing, and I hope we can consistently be good the rest of the season,” said Grossman.

Grossman said that Saturday’s win may have been the most consistent match she has seen in her tenure as Waynesburg’s head coach. 

“I think that was the most consistent we’ve played this season. If you look at statlines it’s probably the best game statistically that I’ve had with a Waynesburg team in terms of errors that we made and untimely errors that we typically make that I didn’t see on Saturday.” Grossman said.

Sophomore setter Riley Ruffley led the team in assists in the win on Saturday, notching 33 assists on the stat sheet. She talked about how she feels about five set victories such as the one that came this past Saturday.

“Five sets is not ideal, because we want to finish in three sets but when those games come around they’re always the games you wish weren’t happening but in the moment you’re ready for anything, you want the ball at that point you want to be the one to finish the game, so it’s an exciting atmosphere at that point,” said Ruffley.

The match was closely contested all the way out. The first two sets went to the Yellow Jackets by scores of 26- 24 and 25- 23, but the Carlow University Celtics answered with two set wins of their own by scores of 25- 23 and 31- 29. Grossman said that dropping sets three and four didn’t phase her team, but rather motivated them for the fifth and final set. 

“Losing that fourth set in extra points, by two points, we were jazzed up to get the ball back. We wanted to prove that we deserved to win that match. A couple of untimely errors, you clean up a couple misserves or balls hit out of bounds and that fourth set looks completely different, so that was our mindset going into the fifth set. Our mindset was, don’t give anyone the opportunity to take this from you, you control your fate, you play the ball the best that you can, and just be aggressive. That’s what we’ve really been working on, I think if you look at my lineup I’m playing a lot of young players, and I brought them in for a reason, and I believe in them, so seeing them rebound and pull off a 5 set win after a tough loss on Tuesday makes me very optimistic about the future of this program and the future of this season.” 

The Jackets won that fifth set 15-8, and Ruffley talked about how this team remained focused after dropping the fourth set in order to rally and take the fifth set and eventually the win. 

“[In the huddle] We’re kind of just saying that we need to stay consistent and get out with a lead and keep that lead. The fourth set was back and forth back and forth back and forth to finish the game so after a set like that you can either stay down in that rut or you can get out of it and come out strong so that’s what we were saying.” Grossman said.

Grossman also talked about how proud she is of this young core of players and how well they have done to stay ‘process oriented’ throughout the early stages of the season. 

“As a team we are focused on being process oriented and in year four of this rebuild, trusting the process and doing the little things to get where we want to be. And I’m super proud of them. I think it speaks to who they are as people and the relationships that they have and the decision they made to come play at Waynesburg in a rebuilding program and be a part of it. They’ve taken on that role, they’ve taken it seriously, and they’re working their butts off to make a different name for this volleyball team.”Grossman said

The Yellow Jackets next match will be on Tuesday, Sept. 19, when they travel to take on Washington & Jefferson at 7 p.m..