The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (5-0) defeated No. 25 CNU 3-2 in five sets.
Abigail Mahoney recorded 16 kills with a .323 hitting percentage, six digs, and two total blocks,
Morgan Ludovici had ten kills, six digs, two service aces, and one assist, and
Hannah Smith registered eight kills, 14 digs, five assists, one service ace, and one block assist.
Haley Sutton led the team with 23 assists, had three kills, three service aces, and seven digs,
Cara Caruso led the team in digs with 20 with four assists, and
Niya Nash had 15 assists, seven digs, two kills, one service ace, and one block assist.
A tightly contested first set saw the Captains lead 9-6 early on, but the Marlins fought back tying the game at 9-9. CNU countered with a 6-1 run to lead 15-10. VWU went on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 16-14, however, the Captains outscored the visitors 9-1 to take set one 25-15.
The Marlins fought back in the second set going up 6-1 early. CNU chipped away at the Marlins' lead, cutting it down to 13-9, but VWU went on a 5-1 run to increase their lead to 17-10. Christopher Newport came back, going on a 5-1 run to bring the score to 18-15. The Marlins outscored the host 7-2 to win the second set 25-17.
VWU fought hard in set three to gain an 11-6 advantage on the back of a 6-2 run. The Marlins extended their lead with a 5-0 run to lead 16-8 midway through the set, but the Captains rallied with a 4-0 run to cut the lead down to four. Both teams traded points the rest of the way, but the Marlins were able to hold off any rally from the host to win the third set 25-21.
Virginia Wesleyan built up a 6-2 lead quickly in the fourth set, but CNU went on a 7-1 run to take back the lead at 9-7. VWU chipped away at the host lead and tied the game at 15 all midway through the set. The Marlins offense took advantage and went on a 5-1 run to take a 20-17 lead. The Captains countered with a 4-1 run tying the game at 21-21. Nothing separated the two teams as they were tied at 25-25, but the host went on a 4-1 run to take set four 28-26.
In the fifth and final set, CNU kept their momentum as they built a 4-2 lead over the Marlins. Several points later Virginia Wesleyan went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-5 lead. After the teams switched sides, the host went on a 4-1 run to lead 9-8. The Marlins responded with a 3-0 rally to lead 11-9. VWU never trailed again in the set and they outscored CNU to take the fifth set 15-13.
