No. 1 Calvin 3, Alma 0
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Calvin took a three set win against the Scots of Alma with scores of 25-10, 25-18, 25-14.
The Knights improved to 18-0 overall and 10-0 in the MIAA with their win Saturday against Alma (4-6 MIAA 9-10 overall) . The win keeps a 48-match win streak alive for the Knights team in conference play.
The Knights came out of the gates with lots of confidence and momentum, as the Scots didn’t show much life until the end of the first game. During the second game the Scots went on a couple runs but in the end the Knights would regain composure to finish out the set.
Set three brought another set of challenges for the Scots as the Knights now with even more momentum were not going to be stopped easily. After a couple costly service errors they came up short in the third giving Calvin their tenth MIAA season win.
No. 2 Hope 3, Olivet 0
HOLLAND, Mich. -- Hope swept its 17th opponent of the season on Saturday, beating visiting Olivet 25-10, 25-8, 25-13 during homecoming.
The second-ranked Flying Dutch improved to 18-1 overall as they pushed their win streak to six matches. They remained in second place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings after raising their league record to 9-1.
Junior outside Jenna Grasmeyer of Jenison led Hope with 10 kills and a.562 kill percentage.
Two Flying Dutch players added eight kills apiece — senior Mari Schoolmaster on a .500 kill percentage and junior hitter Amy VanderStoep of Holland on a .316 kill percentage.
No. 3 St. Thomas 3, No. 6 Elmhurst 1
DECORAH, Iowa -- The Bluejays suffered their first loss in 14 matches after falling to defending national champion St. Thomas 15-25, 25-20, 20-25, 19-25.
Wilks led the Bluejays with 14 kills and five blocks while Szarmach finished with 11 kills and 15 digs. Novak added nine kills and 12 digs while Hannah Nimrick finished with 31 assists and eight kills. Hannah Lessen led the Bluejays in digs with 24 while Reynolds added a team-leading seven blocks.
No. 4 Emory 3, Carnegie Mellon 0
No. 4 Emory 3, NYU 0
CLEVELAND -- The No. 4-ranked Emory volleyball team opened play at the University Athletic Association Round Robin I on Saturday with two wins. Emory topped Carnegie Mellon, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-13), in the first match before registering a 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-13) triumph against New York University. The two victories boosted the Eagles' win streak to 10 matches while raising their overall record to 20-1 (2-0 UAA).
Head coach Jenny McDowell saw her squad at the top of its game offensively, battering CMU with a season-high .459 (44-5—85) hitting percentage before recording a .425 mark (40-6—80), the squad's third-best showing of the season, against NYU. While the offense was in high gear, the defensive play was solid, allowing a combined opponent attack percentage of .095. In addition, the Eagles enjoyed a huge 21-2 edge in total blocks in the two contests and a 75-52 bulge in digs.
Junior Kate Bowman keyed the Eagles' effort against the Tartans of CMU, blasting away for a match-high 17 kills, her second-highest mark of the season, and registering a hitting percentage of .500 (17-2—30). Classmate Leah Jacobs was the other Eagle to ring up double figures in kills with 10 successful attack opportunities en route to a solid .474 attack percentage (10-1—19). Freshman Jessica Holler continued her impressive play with nine kills, a hitting percentage of .500 (9-1—16) and a match-leading seven blocks (0-7). Sophomore Sydney Miles dished out 33 assists while sophomore Taylor Erwin topped all players with 11 digs.
No. 5 Cal Lutheran 3, Cal Tech 0
PASADENA, Calif. -- Caitlin Fransen, Hannah Orlandi and Dianna Rohrer had seven kills apiece as Cal Lutheran made quick work of Caltech on Saturday, defeating the Beavers 3-0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-13 ). The Regals had a season-high attacking percentage of .457 and blasted 42 kills to just five errors as a team. With the win, Cal Lutheran improved to 17-1 and is now just one game away from tying the best start in school history since 2005.
The Regals came out firing on all cylinders in the first set, connecting for 18 kills on 25 swings and just two errors. Kylie McLogan had five kills to push CLU to a 17-7 lead and then Rohrer came off the bench and got three consecutive kills to end the first set at 25-9.
Fransen led CLU in the second set with four kills while Moncia Lundgren, Orlandi and Rohrer all had at least two kills. The Regals held Caltech to just five kills as the Regals again won the set by a score of 25-9.
Nicky Lyon got Cal Lutheran ahead to begin the third set with two kill. Caltech battled back to tie it 6-6 before Lundgren connected on a spike and gave CLU the lead for good. The Regals stretched their lead to 22-10 after Sarah Pappas converted her first two kills of her collegiate career and then CLU closed out the match with a Lindsey Kuramoto service ace and Lyon kill.
No. 6 Elmhust 3, Wartburg 0
DECORAH, Iowa -- Elmhurst ran its winning streak to 13 matches with a 25-18, 25-27, 25-23, 25-17 win against Wartburg.
Kaitlyn Wilks powered the Bluejays' offense with 14 kills and four blocks. Megan Reynolds added nine kills and three blocks while Sam Szarmach added 11 kills and 15 digs. Marci Novak narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 15 digs. Lauren Lorenz totaled 24 assists, five aces and nine digs while Katie Rueffer added 23 assists.
No. 7 Mount Union 3, Ohio Northern 0
ADA, Ohio -- Mount Union, ranked No. 7 in the nation, defeated Ohio Northern 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) match-up.
The Puprle Raiders improve to 21-0, 3-0 in the OAC as the Polar Bears fall to 11-7 and 1-1 in OAC action.
In the 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-13) victory against Ohio Northern, Mount Union was led by junior Nicole Snyder who had 14 kills and freshman Allison Twining who tallied 12. Juniors Sarah Schleich and Brittany Woodard each notched 21 assists. While junior Sara Brown had six block assists.
Junior Lauren Mastroine recorded 22 digs on the day.
No. 8 Juniata 3, Scranton
No. 8 Juniata 3, Catholic
SELINSGROVE, Pa. -- Juniata made a clean sweep of the first Landmark Conference weekend, defeating Scranton and Catholic, 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-13) and3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-15) respectively.
The first match of the weekend, against Scranton, was the second meeting of the two teams this year. The Eagles previously defeated the Royals 3-0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-10) in non-conference play at the Christopher Newport Invitational on Sept. 28. Today, Juniata showed similar dominance, not allowing the Royals to score 20 points in any of the three sets.
"We played a lot of different people," head coach Heather Pavlik said. "Everyone chipped in a did a good job. We got a lot of people some opportunities to show what they can do. I thought Mar-Jana was especially good when she went in. That was fun to watch. She's developing every single day and getting better. It was fun to watch in a competition."
Freshman Mar-Jana Phillips had a team-high six kills and seniors Amy Miller and Rachelle Wiegand both notched nine digs. Sophomore Bryce Arnold continued her strong service record with a team-high three service aces.
"There were a lot of people serving well," added Pavlik. "I thought Amy served well, Brittanie Tannenbaum when she came in served well, Amelia had moments where she served well, so did Rachelle, and Brittani Young had a stretch where she served six in a row. We had a little bit from everybody. Everyone did a good job serving where I asked them to serve."
In the second match of the day, junior Amelia Kepler pounded out 14 kills. Miller, and fellow senior Courtney Lydick rounded out the top of the Juniata offense with 10 and eight kills, respectively.
No. 9 Washington-St. Louis 3, Rochester 0
CLEVELAND -- With the score tied 6-6 in the first set, Washington-St. Louis used a 6-2 run to take a 12-8 lead on an ace serve by freshman Alex Sheredy. Rochester rallied to within 13-12 after back-to-back kills by Savannah Benton, but the Bears answered with a 7-1 run to open up a 20-13 lead before finishing with a 25-16 win on Sheredy’s fifth kill of the set.
Set two was similar to the first, with Washington U. taking a 7-6 lead early. A service error by the Yellowjackets gave the serve back to the Bears and sparked a 6-1 run that included an ace by freshman Caroline Dupont. Rochester cut the lead to 15-13, but a 4-0 run for the Bears quickly made it 19-13 and the Yellowjackets were unable to get closer than two points the remainder of the set as the Bears won 25-21. After taking an 8-5 lead, Washington U. strung together 10-consecutive points behind the serving of sophomore Cassie Wang, to build an 18-5 lead before cruising to the 25-12 win to end the match.
Sheredy and Dupont led the Bears with nine kills each, while sophomore Jackie Nelligan added eight. Senior Meghan Byrne tallied six kills on 14 swings while hitting at a .429 clip. Dupont also recorded seven blocks in the match. Wang recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 16 kills and 12 digs, while sophomore Allison Zastrow also contributed 16 assists and freshman Kalehua Katagiri pitched in with 12 digs as well.
No. 9 Washington-St. Louis 3, Brandeis 0
CLEVELAND -- The Bears used a 10-0 run behind the serving of Katagiri to build a 12-2 run in set one. That lead was all Washington-St. Louis needed as the Bears went on to win 25-14. In the second set it was Katagiri’s serving that again gave Washington U. a cushion. The Bears led 9-8 before an 8-0 run with Katagiri serving to take a 17-8 lead before finishing with the 25-10 win to go up 2-0. Washington U. built an early 8-3 lead in the third set. The Judges pulled to within 10-7, but Washington U. answered and extended its lead to 21-12 on a kill by freshman Amanda Palucki. A kill by senior Emily Tulloch ended the match, giving the Bears a 25-17 win in set three.
Dupont led the Bears offensively with 11 kills on 16 swings for a .688 hitting percentage, while also recording a team-best five blocks. Sheredy added nine kills and seven digs, and Nelligan tallied eight kills while hitting .545. Wang finished with 18 assists and seven digs, while Zastrow added 14. Katagiri was the lone player in double-figures defensively with 11 digs.
No. 10 St. Benedict (Minn.) 3, Central (Iowa)
No. 10 St. Benedict (Minn.) 3, Wisconsin-Eau Claire
WINONA, Minn. -- Saint Benedict capped a perfect weekend at the Saint Mary's Cardinal Invitational on Saturday, winning 3-0 against Central and 3-1 against Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The offense racked up 106 kills in the two matches, with Lexi Rinde leading the way with 32 on the day. Lexi Alm was right behind with 25.
With the two wins, the Blazers close the weekend a perfect 3-0, and imrpove to a perfect 14-0 in nonconference matches.
