ATLANTA, Ga. -- Volleyball took both games of the Saturday doubleheader, taking down LaGrange 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 15-12) and St. Catherine 3-1 (16-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-16).

Heading into their final day at the Jenny McDowell Invitational, LeTourneau (2-1) was looking to bounce back, and boy did they. 

It was a group effort offensively on Saturday, with five different YellowJackets garnering 15 or more kills. Emma Smith stood out in both matches with 23 kills and a .340 hitting percentage. Nora Lockhart posted 18 kills (.294) while Logan Lear added 22 of her own. 

Both LeTourneau setters showed out in the doubleheader. Emily Mullin garnered 40 assists on the day, while Hailee Perry dished out 36 assists as well. 

Defensively, Maddy Hirneise worked a career-high 28 digs against LaGrange, totaling 46 on the day. At the net, Ashlyn Walther was a force, stuffing nine attacks. 

MATCH ONE: LeTourneau 3, LaGrange 2 

The YellowJackets fought a back-and-forth battle against the Panthers (1-2) and came out victorious. 

Lear was a force all match, putting up career-highs in nearly every statistical category. Most notably, the sophomore notched a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs along side four of Letourneau's 10 service aces.

Meghan Womack added 14 kills, Lockhart posted six rejections, and Walther tied a career-high in blocks with five. 

After dropping the first set 25-20, the YellowJackets muscled out set two, with the longest run by either team being only four off the back of a trio of kills brought the Jackets back to 17-18. After taking the lead on a Walther service ace to make it 21-20, LeTourneau did not look back, winning the set 25-22.

The seesaw continued with LeTourneau taking set three 25-20, and LaGrange forced a fifth set after taking the fourth 25-22. 

With the winner-take-all ahead, the YellowJackets came through when it mattered most. LeTourneau held the Panthers to a .087 hitting percentage in the set, and after a Womack kill gave them a 7-6 lead, the YellowJackets never looked back.

LeTourneau took the final set 15-12 and picked up their first win of the 2025 campaign.

For LaGrange, Alex Krabs led the match 17 kills to go along with six blocks. 

MATCH TWO: LeTourneau 3, St. Catherine 1

The second match of the day saw a slight hesitation from LeTourneau as the Wildcats stole the first set 25-16, before the YellowJackets pushed back and took three straight.

As a team, LeTourneau garnered 50 kills with a .232 hitting percentage. Smith led the way at 12 kills (.360), followed by Kylee Marksberry with 11 and an outstanding .526 hitting percentage. 

Perry marked her first career double-double with 18 assists and 10 digs. 

In the second set, the YellowJackets had a pair of five-point runs, officially taking the set 25-14 from a Marksberry kill, one of her five in the set. 

The final two sets saw a number of runs go LeTourneau's way, including a pair of six-point runs and a five-point run in the third set.

St. Catherine (2-2) was headlined by Madison Fagan with six kills and five blocks.

UP NEXT

LeTourneau heads to Lookout Mountain, Ga. for the Coca-Cola Invitational on Sept. 5-6.

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