The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (2-0) grabbed two wins. A 3-1 win over Marymount winning 25-11, 23-25, 25-17, and 25-15 and beat Plymouth State 3-0, winning 25-12, 25-22, and 25-13.
Game One:
Hannah Smith led the Marlins in this match with 14 kills, a .273 hitting percentage four service aces, with two block assists, and 14 digs,
Breana Brooks tallied 13 kills with a .565 hitting percentage, two digs, three block assists, and one solo block, and
Alexis Shaw had 12 kills, with a .375 hitting percentage, two block assists, and one dig.
Niya Nash was the quarterback of the offense as she tallied a team-high 40 assists, three service aces, two block assists, one solo block, and 10 digs and teammate
Skylar Rivers led the team on defense with 20 digs.
Virginia Wesleyan came out hot jumping out to an 11-4 lead in the first set. The Saints went on a 3-2 run to cut the lead to 13-7, but the Marlins responded with a 5-0 run to take an 18-8 lead. The two teams traded points to bring the score to 21-11. However, the Marlins ended the set with a 4-0 run to win 25-11.
Marymount stepped up in the second set building an 8-5 lead early. The Saints went on a 6-2 run to increase their lead to 14-8. VWU found themselves down 22-15 late in the set, but a late 7-0 sruge tied the set at 22-22, but the Saints went on a 3-1 run to win set two 25-23.
The Marlins bounced back in this one going on a 7-3 run to start the set and went on to extend their lead to 17-10 with some good service. The two teams traded points until Virginia Wesleyan went on a 4-1 run to win set three 25-17.
VWU pushed hard in the fourth set with a 9-3 run, but Marymount responded with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 9-6. However, the Marlins responded with a 8-4 run to lead 17-10. The Saint scored the next two points, but the Marlins rallied outscored the visitors 8-3 to win the fourth set 25-15.
Game Two:
Alexis Shaw led the team with 11 kills, a .714 hitting percentage, four block assists, and three digs,
Hannah Smith recorded 10 kills with a .381 hitting percentage, one service aces, one assists, and three digs.
Niya Nash led the team with 24 assists, had one kill, and seven digs and
Skylar Rivers had a team-best 11 digs.
Against Plymouth State the Marlins jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but the Panthers went on a 3-0 run to tie the set at 5-5. VWU responded with a 5-1 run to bring the score to 10-6. The Panthers chipped away at the Marlins lead to a 6-3 run to cut the lead to 13-12, but the Marlins offense caught fire and went on a 12-0 run to win the set 25-12.
In the second set, VWU built a 4-2 lead and kept a two point lead until midway through the set when the Marlins went on a 6-2 run to lead 13-8. However, Plymouth responded with a 3-0 run to bring the score to 13-11. Virginia Wesleyan countered with a 6-2 run to increase their lead to 19-13. The Panthers responded with an 8-2 run to tie the set at 21-21, but the Marlins outscored the Panthers 4-1 to win the second set 25-22.
The Panthers kept it close early in the third set at 3-3, but the Marlins rallied with an 8-1 run to lead 11-4. VWU continued its good run of play and lead 16-6 midway through the set. Virginia Wesleyan played well and led by as many as 22-8, but the Panthers had a late surge to bring the score to 24-13. However, the Marlins went on to win the set 25-13.
