MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The Millersville University women's volleyball team perfectly defended its home court and completed a 4-0 run through the Marauder Clash with 3-0 wins over Roberts Wesleyan and Chestnut Hill on Saturday afternoon.
Millersville (6-3) defeated Roberts Wesleyan 25-14, 25-9, 25-15 in the early match and closed with Chestnut Hill, winning by set scores of 25-10, 26-24, 25-20. Millersville's winning streak extended to five and its home winning streak stretched to 15. Millersville setter
Katie Laughman was named the Marauder Clash Tournament Co-MVP after averaging 41.5 assists and 9.0 digs over the four matches.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: MILLERSVILLE VS. ROBERTS WESLEYAN
• Millersville rolled to the sweep behind a .361 hitting percentage that featured 43 kills to just eight errors. Meanwhile, the Marauders limited Roberts Wesleyan to 20 total kills.
Jayci Suseland was nearly perfect, recording 12 kills without an error on 14 attacks.
• Millersville led by as many as 11 points in set one, scored the final four matches of the second set for a 16-point win, and finished the third by scoring the final five points.
• Freshman
Rebecca Dalstad had a career performance with a career-high 15 digs and a career-high four aces. Millersville finished with 11 aces.
•
Lindsey Blevins recorded nine kills with just one error. Laughman produced 31 assists, two kills and one ace.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: MILLERSVILLE VS. CHESTNUT HILL
• Freshman Carly Baughman led the Marauders with a career-high 13 kills on 19 attacks while Suseland recorded 12 kills to just one error on 19 attacks. That efficiency helped the Marauders post a .254 hitting percentage, committing just 13 errors.
• After winning by a 15-point margin in set one, the Marauders were challenged in set two. Millersville led 16-13 but a 3-0 Chestnut Hill run tied the match and neither team led by more than two the rest of the way. The Marauders trailed 23-22 after a kill from Henielys Ramos but Baughman answered with a kill and a Griffin error gave the Marauders set point at 24-23. Ramos scored another kill to knot the set at 24. A service error gave the Marauder set point again, and this time they delivered, using a kill from Blevins.
• Laughman finished with 37 assists.
Amanda Neessen totaled three block assists.
Emily Hoffman led the team with two aces.
THOUGHTS FROM COACH BRIAN SMITH
• On finishing the tournament 4-0: "We came into this weekend expecting to win four matches. We are glad that we were challenged. The competition was good. We were able to work some players in and worked on some things."
• On individual performances: "I think that our middles are getting better. Carly has been working on slides and the timing of that and that's always a challenging thing for a new middle and a setter to get connected. As the weekend progressed that looked better. I have seen improvement in all our of players. Defensively, (Dalstad), I really loved her digging and showing control on her digs. Hoffman played well, served well. It was a good performance for all of our players."
NOTES
• In addition to Laughman, Suseland,
Kat Forry, and Blevins were named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Millersville has hit .220 or higher in six of the last seven matches and have tallied 40 or more kills in each of the last eight.
• Laughman moved into fifth place at Millersville in career kills. Forry moved up to eighth in career digs.
UP NEXT
• Millersville travels to Orangeburg, N.Y., for a tri-meet with Dominican and Southern New Hampshire on Friday, Sept. 20, and then travels to Philadelphia on Saturday for matches against USciences and Mercy.
