PITTSBURGH, Pa. – March 30, 2021 – The Chatham volleyball team faced an enormous hole in Wednesday's home PAC matchup. However, the Cougars roared back and defeated the visiting Washington & Jefferson Presidents in five sets (7-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-9).
 
It wasn't the best start for the Cougars, who fell in the first set 25-7. The Presidents were hitting at an impressive .440% with no errors while Chatham's hitting percentage dipped into negative figures. Things improved in the second set, but still Chatham was on the wrong side of a 25-16 second set decision.
 
With things looking bleak for the hosts, Chatham came out swinging in the third set. The Cougars hit at .213, only committing two errors in the set. Chatham had eight combined errors in the final three sets compared to 16 in the first two. The fourth set was mostly in command of the Cougars, with the fifth set pending.
 
Chatham and W&J would trade points in the fifth set. With the score tied at 8-8, the Cougars claimed seven of the final eight points, including the final three tallies via W&J attacking errors. The win marks the first ever win at home over Washington & Jefferson and second straight five-set win over the Presidents. Ironically, both of those wins were in come-from-behind fashion.
 
Chatham won despite narrowly losing many of the statistics. They were outhit .116 to .102 and only had one service ace compared to W&J's five. The only statistic Chatham had the edge came in digs, a narrow 98-96 advantage.
 
Ten different Cougars had at least one kill. Leading the way was sophomore Rylee Ritko, who registered 11 to go along with a .241 hitting percentage. Sophomore Shaelah Pepperman and first-year Lona Bailey both had double-digit assists with 18 and 11, respectively. First-year Meghan Dominek shoveled 25 digs, her fifth 20+ dig performance in the last six games. Junior Emily Richie also was second on the team with 22 digs and nine kills. Classmate Makenah Zitko recorded the only service ace of the game for Chatham.
 
Chatham finishes the regular season with a 3-5 PAC mark and 4-5 overall. The PAC tournament will feature the top six teams advancing to the championship tournament, which begins on Saturday, April 10. The PAC office will finalize the schedule on Thursday.