The Virginia Wesleyan University women's volleyball team (11-0) went 2-0 at the Mary Washington Tri-Match, defeating Marymount 3-0, winning 25-19, 25-17, and 25-8, and beating Mary Washington 3-0, winning 24-15, 24-11, and 25-21.
Game One:
Hannah Smith led the Marlins' attack as she tallied 10 kills, with a .381 hitting percentage, one block assist, three service aces, and 15 digs,
Alexis Shaw had nine kills, with a .409 hitting percentage, three digs, and one block assist, and
Madi Schmidt recorded eight kills, with a .318 hitting percentage, and had eight digs.
Niya Nash led the team with 30 assists, had one service ace, one block assist, and five digs, and teammate
Skylar Rivers led the team in digs with 19 and had two assists and two service aces.
The opening set started evenly, with the score tied 4-4 early on before Virginia Wesleyan went on a key run to make it 9-5. Marymount called a timeout down 15-9, but the Marlins kept the pressure on and extended the lead to 17-10 coming out of the break. The Saints managed a small rally to cut the deficit to 20-16, but VWU answered with a three-point burst to reach set point at 24-19. A final block ended the frame as the Marlins took the first set 25-19.
Set two was all Virginia Wesleyan early as the Marlins stormed out to a 3-0 start and quickly pushed the lead to 7-2 before a Marymount timeout. VWU kept rolling after the break, stretching the advantage to 11-2 thanks to a six-point run. The Saints put together a mid-set rally to close the gap to 15-10, but VWU stopped the momentum with three straight points to go up 18-10. Marymount grabbed a few late points, but the Marlins stayed in control and closed it out 25-17 for a 2-0 match lead.
The third set was all VWU from the start, jumping ahead 6-1 and forcing an early timeout. The Marlins' run grew even larger as they scored three more in a row to make it 9-1 and later 14-3, completely taking command. Marymount had a brief two-point rally, but VWU responded immediately with a 4-0 stretch to go ahead 20-5. The Marlins never let up, scoring the final two points back-to-back to take the set 25-8 and complete the sweep.
Game Two:
Hannah Smith had another good game with 12 kills, a .350 hitting percentage, five digs, two service aces, and one assist,
Madi Schmidt recorded eight kills, with a .313 hitting percentage, five service aces, and eight digs, and
Breana Brooks had eight kills with a .333 hitting percentage.
Virginia Wesleyan came out strong in set one, using an early 9-5 run to grab control. The Marlins extended their lead to 15-6 after a six-point burst out of a Mary Washington timeout. The Eagles tried to rally, cutting the deficit to 17-11, but VWU never allowed them closer than six points the rest of the way. The Marlins put together a 5-0 run to make it 24-14 before closing the set 25-15.
Set two saw VWU jump out again, using a string of aces and kills to go ahead 9-4 before Mary Washington called its first timeout. The Marlins came out of the break strong, taking four of the next five points to build a 13-6 advantage. After another UMW timeout, Virginia Wesleyan's momentum continued, pushing the lead to 19-8. Mary Washington managed a short two-point rally late to cut the score to 22-11, but the Marlins responded with three straight points to finish the set 25-11.
The third set was the most competitive of the match, featuring several lead changes and ties. VWU trailed 7–4 before piecing together a pair of rallies to tie it at 8–8, then later at 11–11. The Marlins grabbed their first lead at 15–14 and went back-and-forth with the Eagles until it was tied again at 17–17. From there, VWU strung together a two-point burst and held a 20–18 lead, forcing a Mary Washington timeout. Virginia Wesleyan kept the pressure on, moving to set point at 24–20 and, after one UMW rally point, finishing off the frame 25–21 to sweep the match 3–0.
