St. Petersburg, Fla. - With its second five-set match in as many days, the Adelphi University volleyball team earned the first win of 2024, defeating Emory and Henry College on Saturday morning, to wrap up the Eckerd College Invitational. 

With a staggering 15-5 edge in service aces, the Panthers (1-3) took the morning matchup in five sets - victorious in sets one, three and five. The last time the Panthers reached double-digit aces was in Friday morning's bout with Saint Leo - however, the team has not had 15 or more service aces in one game since Septemeber 2, 2022, when they collected 19 against Holy Family. 

Coincidentally, Jamaya Harris led the team with six aces in that 2022 victory, and also recorded the final ace of Saturday's contest to leave Florida with the program's first win of the season. 

The Wasps (0-3) entered the gym having lost to Saint Leo and Eckerd, similarly to Adelphi. In the opening set, the 'Cats managed to secure a minor lead in the early going, making their opponent have to play a game of catch up right out of the gate. E&H came within three at 16-13, but Macarty McQueen rattled off a kill that sparked a four-point swing in favor of the Panthers to keep their opponent at bay. Newcomer Kalena Ricketts landed the final kill of the set to give Adelphi a 1-0 lead. 

The teams were evenly matched in the second frame as the Wasps found their stride, committing four less attack errors to knot the score at one-all. 

In the third, Adelphi managed to hold Emory and Henry to a negative hitting percentage,  which included a 14-1 clip to start the game, which ended with back-to-back service aces from Zoe West. Too great a deficit to overcome, the Panthers closed out the 25-11 third set victory, as Delaney Kiendra recorded the final three kills for the 'Cats.

The offense slipped in the fourth, posting a sub .100 team hitting percentage which saw the Wasps capitalize and force a fifth and deciding set. 

After a Wasp service error started a six-point run for the Panthers, half of those points came courtesy of Jaydin Nowak's service aces, which made it 12-6. Trading points, Kiendra dropped a kill that made it match point with Harris at the line. A long service attempt from Harris caused controversy in the call, which was overturned and given to Adelphi to end the game. 

Adelphi returns north, but hits the road for Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 10 when they take on Holy Family University in non-conference action.