The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (26-1, 9-0 ODAC) swept Elizabethtown and Scranton 3-0, winning 25-17, 25-14, and 25-20 in game one, and 25-22, 27-25, and 25-14 in game two.
Game One:
Breana Brooks led the team in points with 10 kills, a .438 hitting percentage, two solo blocks, and three block assists.
Hannah Smith led the team in kills with 12, a .348 hitting percentage, 15 digs, and two block assists.
Alexis Shaw had eight kills, two block assists, one assist, and one dig.
Niya Nash led the team with 35 assists, six digs, one kill, two service aces, and one block assist, and
Skylar Rivers led the team with 17 digs, four assists, one kill, and one service ace.
The Blue Jays came out strong and built a 4-2 lead early, but the Marlins fought back with an 8-4 run to lead 10-8. The two teams traded points until the game was tied at 12-12, and the Marlins' offense took over, going on an 8-2 run to lead 20-14. Virginia Weselayn kept up the pressure and went on to win the set 25-17.
Elezabethtown started well in the second set and held a 6-5 lead early. However, VWU rallied and outscored the Blue Jays 10-4 to lead 15-10. The two teams traded points to bring the score to 18-13, but the Marlins' offense rallied again to go on a 7-1 run to win set two 25-14.
The Marlins' momentum carried into the third set as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Elizabethtown chipped away at the VWU lead and was able to bring the score to 10-9. However, the Marlins responded with a 10-4 run to lead 20-13. The Blue Jays had a late surge, but the Marlins went on to win the third set 25-20.
Game Two:
Hannah Smith led the offense in game two, with 11 kills, two service aces, 10 digs, one block assist, and one assist.
Madi Schmidt also had 11 kills, with one service ace, seven digs, and one block assist.
Alexis Shaw had eight kills, two digs, and three block assists.
Niya Nash had 32 assists, two service aces, one block assist, and nine digs, and teammate
Skylar Rivers had 10 digs, five assists, and four service aces.
Early in the first set, Scranton pulled ahead to lead 9-4. The Marlins responded with a 7-2 run to tie the set at 11-11. Scranton countered with a 4-2 run to lead 15-13, but the Marlins strung together a 4-0 run to take a 17-15 lead. The Royals responded with a 6-3 run to take a 21-20 lead. However, Virginia Wesleyan put together a clutch run outscoring the host 5-1 to win set one 25-22.
A highly competitive second set, and neither team scored two points in a row, until the Marlins went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-11 lead midway through the set. Scranton chipped away at the lead and was able to tie the set at 17-17. The two teams traded points until Scranton went on a 4-1 run to lead 23-21, but the Marlins countered with a 6-2 run to win the set 27-25.
In the third set, Virginia Wesleyan was able to build a 4-1 lead early and followed that with a 12-2 run to take a commanding 16-5 lead. With a large deficit, Scranton chipped away at VWU's lead, but the lead was too great, and the Marlins went on to win the set 25-14.
