Coach Spector Talks About the ODAC Tournament

The Bridgewater College Eagles will begin their quest for an ODAC volleyball title Friday at Hollins University where the Eagles will meet Emory & Henry College in a quarterfinal matchup. The contest begins at 6:30 p.m. Bridgewater is the No. 4 seed in the tournament while E&H is seeded fifth.

During the regular season meeting, the Eagles rallied to defeat the Wasps in five sets at Nininger Hall. E&H won the first two sets 25-19 and 25-21 before the Eagles staged their comeback. BC worked overtime to win the third set 29-27 and then evened the match by controlling the fourth set 25-15. The fifth set was a tense batted with the Eagles coming out on top, 19-17.

E&H (20-6, 6-4 ODAC) is led by one of the top players in the conference, Rachel Fertitta. A 6-2 middle hitter, Ferttita leads the ODAC in kills with 4.37 per set and blocks with 1.28 per set. She ranks second in hitting percentage in the conference with a .370 mark.

The Wasps also boast the conference leader in assists, Reagan Clarke. Clarke averages 9.80 assists per set. Leading the Wasps defense is Twyla Sessor with 4.91 digs per set.

The Eagles answer with the senior trio of Erika Dirnagl, Tricia Davis and Mandy Hill.

Dirnagl ranks second in the ODAC in kills with 3.33 per game and eighth in hitting percentage with a .275 mark. Davis ranks third in assists with 9.41 per set and Hill is No. 6 in blocks with .86 per set.

Sophomore middle Katie Baker ranks No. 2 in the conference in blocks with .97 per set and is No. 10 in hitting percentage with a .267 mark. Freshman Casey O'Leary is ranked No. 5 in the ODAC with 4.2 digs per set.

The Eagles should be battle-tested for tournament play after navigating through a grueling non-conference schedule. Bridgewater enters the conference tournament with a 12-16 overall record with 13 of those losses coming out of the conference. The Eagles played 17 non-conference foes and those teams had a combined won-loss record of 351-175 - a .667 winning percentage. Only two of the non-conference teams on the BC schedule ended the season with a losing record.