Hearns aces Western past the US Merchant Marine Academy, 3-0
DANBURY, CT (Oct. 21) — Senior Michelle Hearns (Bedford Hills, NY) moved into the Western Top-10 for career service aces with six for the match to lead the Western Connecticut State University volleyball team to a 3-0 non-conference win over the US Merchant Marine Academy Friday evening at Feldman Arena.
Western jumped out to a big early lead in game one behind the serving of Hearns and the hitting of junior Paxton Thornton (Sharon, CT). A service ace by US Merchant Marine Academy’s Cassandra Palma (Loomis, CA) closed the gap to 16-10, but an ace by freshman Nina Wojtkiewicz (Griswold, CT) and two more kills by Thornton stretched the margin to 20-10. Freshman Heather Williams (Kingston, NY) closed out the game with a kill to give Western a 25-12 victory.
The Colonials again jumped out to an early lead in game two, but the Mariners fought back to even the score at 8-all behind the serving of Michelle Danhof (Colorado Springs, CO). Senior Kelley Collins (Massapequa, NY) served Western to a 12-8 lead, but a block by USMMA’s Jenn Perkins (North Attleboro, MA) narrowed the gap to 14-12. Sophomore Rachel Volpe (Southington, CT) stepped to the service line for Western with the Colonials still holding only a slim lead at 19-17, and led a 6-1 run that closed out game two in favor of Western, 25-18.
Freshman Shirley Rodriguez (New Haven, CT) opened game three for Western at the service line and led the Colonials on a 7-0 opening run. Hearns’ fourth ace of the match pushed the lead to 11-1, and two more Hearns aces in the game’s final three points gave her six for the match and moved her into the Top-10 for aces during her Western career. The Colonials took game three by the score of 25-9, and the match 3-0.
For the match, Thornton led Western with 13 kills, followed by six kills for Wojtkiewicz. Collins recorded 11 digs and freshman Jennifer Hogan (Franklin Square, NY) handed out 25 assists. For the US Merchant Marine Academy, Palma led with eight kills, Miranda Walz (Monona, IA) had 18 assists, and Danhoff had 14 digs.
With the win, Western moves to 19-7 on the season, while the US Merchant Marine Academy falls to 9-16. Action continues at Feldman Arena throughout the day on Saturday, October 22nd, beginning at 9:00am when Western takes on Babson. The Colonials wrap up the two-day event with a 4:00pm match against Wesleyan.
Western - 25 25 25 - 3
US Merchant Marine Acad. - 12 18 9 - 0
|
