The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (9-1, 1-0 ODAC) defeated Montclair State 3-1 winning 21-25, 25-12, 25-15, and 25-23 and later that day beat Clarkson 3-0 25-22, 25-18, and 25-20.
Game One:
Hannah Smith led the Marlins offense with 13 kills, a .220 hitting percentage, 10 digs, two solo blocks, one block assist, and one service ace,
Alexis Shaw tallied 12 kills, a .440 hitting percentage, three solo blocks, one block assist, and one dig, and
Kyleigh Castengera had seven kills, a .500 hitting percentage, three solo blocks, two block assists, three digs, and two service aces.
Salena Jones had 29 assists, and 10 digs, while libero
Madeleine Hanes had 19 digs, four assists, and one kill.
The Red Hawks came out strong going up 7-3 in the first set, and went on to extend their lead to 10-5. However, the Marlins chipped away at the lead with a 4-2 run to cut the lead to 12-9, but the Red Hawks countered with a 7-3 run to lead 19-13. VWU responded with a 6-2 run to bring the score to 21-19, but Montclair State went on a 4-2 run to win set one 25-21.
Virginia Wesleyan came out of the gates hot in the second set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead. The Red Hawks came back and cut the lead to 11-7, but the Marlins went on an impressive 11-1 run to lead 22-8. With that run, the Marlins went on to win set two 25-12.
In the third set, VWU built an early 6-1 lead, but the Red Hawks responded with a 3-2 run to bring the score to 8-4. The Marlins countered with a 9-2 run to lead 17-6 midway through the set. Montclair State chipped away at the lead, but VWU kept up with both teams scoring eight but the Marlins took set three winning 25-15.
The Red Hawks jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the fourth set, but VWU came back with a 3-0 run to lead 4-3. Montclair State outscored the Marlins 6-3 to lead 9-7, but Virginia Wesleyan went on a 4-0 run to lead 11-9. The Red Hawks fought back with a 5-0 run and led 14-11 midway through the set. VWU came back with a 10-3 run to lead 21-17, but the Red Hawks charged back with a 4-1 run to bring the score to 22-21. VWU outscored the Red Hawks 3-2 to win the set 25-23 and win the match 3-1.
Game Two:
Hannah Smith led the Marlins with 16 kills, a .361 hitting percentage, 10 digs, two block assists, and one service ace,
Madi Schmidt had a good game with eight kills, 17 digs, two block assists, and one service ace, and
Avery Lewis had six kills, with a .545 hitting percentage, two block assists, one dig, and one assists.
The Marlins took control early as they held a 7-2 lead to start the match, they went on to extend their lead with a 6-2 run to lead 15-9. Clarkson came back with a 6-1 run to cut the lead to 16-15 and with a 5-1 run took a 20-19 lead. Virginia Wesleyan outscored the Golden Knights 6-2 to win set one 25-22.
The Marlins kept their momentum from the first set jumping out to an 11-4 lead. Clarkson chipped away at the VWU lead and brought the score to 16-11, but the Marlins cruised the rest of the set to win 25-18.
In the third set, the Marlins held an early 4-1 lead, but the Golden Knights came back with a 6-1 run to take an 8-5 lead. Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 6-2 run to lead 11-10. The two teams traded points and Clarkson tied the set at 16-16, but the Marlins went on a 9-4 run to win the set 25-20.
