HARRISONBURG, VA - The Mary Baldwin College volleyball team defeated Salem College in straight sets this morning at the Eastern Mennonite University Invitational Tournament.

The Fighting Squirrels took the first two sets 26-24 and sealed the win with a 25-21 final set score. 

Trailing 10-17, Farrah Fullerton started Mary Baldwin on a 10-0 run with a kill after an assist by Reilly Kelly.  Fullerton's first serve was an ace.  Katelyn Rice then added 4 kills and a block with teammate Jacklyn Lamoy who also added a kill in the run.  An error by Salem and another ace by Fullerton completed the run and gave MBC the 20-17 lead.

Salem battled back to tie the set at 24.  MBC answered with a kill by Sarah Crumbly and a service ace by Jemicka Wilborne to seal the win.

In the second set, the teams battled evenly throughout the set finding themselves again tied at 24.  Mary Baldwin was then able to put together the final two points taking advantage of an error by Salem and a kill by Rice to go up 2-0.

With momentum on their side, Mary Baldwin was able to pull away in the final set after the teams found themselves again tied this time at 15 all.

Katelyn Rice led Mary Baldwin with 17 kills (.316) while Reilly Kelly finished with 30 assists.  Mary Baldwin's defense was balanced with Jemicka Wilborne adding 10 digs.

In Mary Baldwin's final match of the tournament, Goucher edged out the Fighting Squirrels 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22).

The Fighting Squirrels were unable to take advantage of the Gophers service errors as Goucher finished with 50 kills to Mary Baldwin's 42. 

Rice again led Mary Baldwin with 16 kills.  Jessica Hickman added 8 kills while Farrah Fullerton tallied 7.  Reilly Kelly had 38 assists. Defensively, Jemicka Wilborne finished with 25 digs.

For her efforts, Rice was named to the all-tournament team.

Head Coach Paul Yee said, "We matured as a team this weekend and also improved on things we were focused on.  I am excited about the progress this season."

Mary Baldwin College 1-5 (0-0 USAS) return home Wednesday evening for their next match before traveling to Roanoke for the Maroon Classic next weekend.