NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion volleyball trailed 22-21 in the fourth set, but couldn’t force a fifth as the Monarchs concluded the sixth annual Quest for the Crown tournament with a 3-1 setback against Elon on Saturday night at the ODU Volleyball Center.
Asked on what he’s seen from his team this opening weekend, ODU head coach Fred Chao said, “I still see four freshmen that are growing and are getting a lot of experience. Right now, consistency is a little bit fragile from a serving and passing standpoint. Once we shore that up, I think you can see that we’ve got the offensive capability to do some good things.”
“Today we had stretches of good passes and stretches of bad passes. We didn’t make enough digs and we weren’t good defensively today.”
Elon 3, ODU 1
Leilani Lawrence put the Monarchs (1-2) in front 3-1 at the start of the first set thanks to a pair of kills and service ace, but the Phoenix (1-2) took off with a 13-1 run to take a 14-4 lead. Rita Benidio put away a ball from Erica Duggy, Emma Schelah served an ace, and Emma DiRocco made a solo block to get ODU to within 21-14, but the Maroon and Gold held on for a 25-14 decision.
The Silver and Blue shook off the slow start with a 25-18 tally in set two. Knotted at 7-7, a DiRocco kill opened up a 6-1 swing as the Monarchs took over control, 13-8. Lawrence added another three kills to her stat line down the stretch and Schelah converted an attack attempt to even the match at a set apiece.
ODU pulled ahead 12-8 in the third set on an ace from Duffy, but the Monarchs saw that lead slip away as Elon outgained the tournament hosts, 9-2 to go up 17-14 and force a Monarch timeout. The Phoenix committed back-to-back errors out of the break as the Monarchs were back within a point, 17-16, but the guests pulled away again for a 22-17 advantage. Lawrence and Maggi had a couple of late kills, but Elon took the set by a margin of 25-21.
The Monarchs again had a good start in the fourth as Lawrence served consecutive aces for a 4-1 lead. Elon countered with a 5-0 run highlighted by a couple of blocks and an ace of their own. Old Dominion regained control, 16-14 as two more aces from Lawrence put the home team up 16-14. The set remained tight with ties at 17-17 and 20-20 before a final timeout was taken by Elon. That proved to be the right move for the Maroon and Gold as they pulled away late for a 25-22 total to claim the match.
Lawrence paced the attack with 18 kills while hitting for a .324 percentage. The first year outside hitter also served five aces to go along with four digs and three assists. Also scoring in double figures was Maggi, who chipped in 10 kills with six digs. Duffy finished the night with 34 assists and two aces, DiRocco had the lone block for the Monarchs, and Gent anchored the back line with 11 digs.
There were a total of 23 ties, 11 of them in the fourth set, and just nine lead changes. ODU edged Elon in kills (47-45), but the Phoenix had more service aces (15-10), digs (35-34), and blocks (8-1).
2026 Quest for the Crown
Players of the Match
Match 1 – Kensley Haneline, USC Upstate
Match 2 – Rashanny Solano Smith, St. John’s
Match 3 – Sophia Spivey, USC Upstate
Match 4 – Leilani Lawrence, Old Dominion
Match 5 – Carola Tesoro, St. John’s
Match 6 – Gabrielle Gilbert, Norfolk State
Match 7 – Cameron Lanier, Elon
Up Next
ODU has its first road match of the season this Tuesday when the Monarchs head across town for a 6 p.m. meeting with Norfolk State.
On preparing his team for their next match, Chao added, “We need to tune some things up and address them. A lot of it is trying to give them enough reps that they’re confident, but not enough that they’re fatigued. And then Tuesday a little more serve and pass before we head out.”