The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (22-4, 9-1 ODAC) went 2-0 today against York and Neumann. Winning 25-18, 20-25, 25-23, and 25-14 against York and 25-19, 25-13, and 25-16 against Neumann.
Match One vs. York
Emma Claytor led the team against York with 14 kills, a season-best .591 hitting percentage, three service aces, four digs, two block assists, and two solo blocks,
Hannah Smith had 14 kills, with a .235 hitting percentage, 10 digs, two service aces, and two block assists, and
Madi Schmidt tallied 11 kills, with a .231 hitting percentage, six digs, one block assist, and five assists.
Niya Nash led the team with 24 assists, three kills, two digs, and one block assist and teammate
Madeleine Hanes recorded a team-high 16 digs, with one service ace, and two assists.
To start the match, York came out strong and built a 5-2 lead. However, Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 6-2 run to take an 8-7 lead. The Spartans responded with a 4-0 run, but VWU countered with a massive 9-2 run to lead 17-13. The Marlins outscored the host 8-4 to win set one 25-18.
The Spartans jumped out to a 4-2 lead but the Marlins fought back to tie the set at 4-4. York went on a 5-0 run to lead 9-5, but VWU went on a 3-1 run to cut bring the score to 10-7. The Marlins outscored the host 6-5 over the next 11 rallies to cut York's lead to 13-10. After several traded points, the Spartans went on a 5-1 run to lead 20-14. Virginia Wesleyan went on a 6-2 run to bring the score to 20-22, but the Spartans won the next three points to win set two 25-20.
In the third set, the Spartans carried their momentum to build an 8-3 lead. VWU responded with a 5-1 run to cut the score to 9-8. The Marlins outscored the host 5-4 over the next couple of points to tie the set at 13-13. York rallied with a 6-1 run to lead 19-16, but the Marlins fought back with a 7-1 run to take a 21-20 lead. VWU outscored the host 4-3 the rest of the set to win the third set 25-23.
In an evenly matched fourth set, the two teams were deadlocked at 7-7 to begin the fourth set. York went on a 3-0 to lead 10-7, but the Marlins responded with a 6-1 run to lead 13-11. Over the next three points, each team scored three to bring the score to 16-14. However, Virginia Wesleyan went on a 9-0 run to win the fourth set 25-14.
Match Two vs. Neumann
Hannah Smith led the Marlins with 11 kills, a .269 hitting percentage, 15 digs, one block assist, and five service aces,
Emma Claytor had eight kills, a .333 hitting percentage, one dig, and two service aces, and
Leah Scalise registered six kills, a .600 hitting percentage, four block assists, one solo block, and one dig.
Madeleine Hanes led the team with 16 digs and had one service ace and
Salena Jones had 22 assists, five digs, and two service aces.
The Marlins jumped out to an early 5-3 lead, but the Knights went on an 8-1 run to take an 11-6 lead over VWU. However, the Marlins stopped the Knights' rally and went on their own 7-3 run to cut the lead to 14-13. Neumann scored the next two points to lead 16-13, but Virginia Wesleyan went on a massive 10-2 run to lead 23-18 and went on to win the set 25-19.
VWU kept their momentum from the first set and built a 10-2 lead. The Knights went on a 5-1 run to bring the score to 11-7. The two teams traded points until Virginia Wesleyan went on a 4-0 run to lead 18-10. Neumann went on a 3-0 run, but the Marlins responded with a 7-0 run to win the second set 25-13.
In the third set, the Marlins built a substantial 10-2 lead. The two teams traded points before the Knight went on a 6-1 run to cut the Marlins lead down to 16-13. However, Virginia Wesleyan went on a 9-3 run to win the third set 25-16.
