MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - The Millersville University women's volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven with sweeps of Dominican (25-14, 25-3, 25-15) and Southern New Hampshire (25-21-25-23, 25-16) Friday afternoon.
The Marauders, now 8-3, have won four consecutive matches in straight sets.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: MILLERSVILLE VS. DOMINICAN
• Millersville hit .419 and held Dominican to 14 kills with 15 errors in the one-sided sweep.
Jayci Suseland delivered 12 kills to just one error on 15 swings.
Katie Laughman totaled 22 assists.
Carley Baughman led the team with three service aces.
• Five of Suseland's kills came in the first set. the Marauders held a 14-11 edge before scoring five unanswered to expand the lead to eight. The Marauders continued to grow the lead, and back-to-back Suseland errors closed the 10-point set win.
• Dominican mustered just one kill in the entire second set. Millersville scored 18 of the first 19 points--six of which came on Suseland kills.
• The Marauders sat top hitters Suseland,
Lindsey Blevins and
Haley Butler in the third and fell behind 7-4 before scoring nine in a row--six with
Chyna Gubbings serving.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: MILLERSVILLE VS. SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE
• Millersville's efficient attack was again on display in the second match of the day, posting a .243 hitting percentage with 40 kills in three sets. Suseland was once again the leader with 12 kills to one error.
Chyna Gubbings added a season-high seven kills. Blevins led the team with 14 digs to go with seven kills.
• Millersville also totaled nine blocks. Gubbings led the team with five block assists. Baughman added four.
• While the first two sets were decided by a total of six points, Millersville trailed on briefly in set two. Southern New Hampshire built a 17-14 lead before Millersville rallied back to tie with kills from Suseland and Gubbins and an attack error from SNHU. The clubs traded points until Suseland closed the 25-23 set win with back-to-back kills.
THOUGHTS FROM COACH BRIAN SMITH
• On the team's focus heading into the weekend: "Southern New Hampshire was a good team. I was really happy to get the two wins--more importantly, play a good team and earn a win. We are averaging close to 12 kills per set and would like to bring that up a little bit. We wanted to up our first ball, side out ratio. We wanted to get to six of those per set and also continue to pass well. That was our focus going into the weekend."
• On the improvement of the team's blocking: "We blocked really well against Southern New Hampshire. They had a lot of height and some big arms. They were a quality team and played hard. They served well. We started to shut them down at the net and frustrate them. Blocking has been an emphasis of ours this season."
NOTES
• The three points scored by Dominican in the second set were the fewest by a Millersville opponent since Cheyney scored three in the third set of the Oct. 18, 2011 match.
• Millersville's 18 block assists and nine total blocks in the second match were season highs.
• In her last four matches, Suseland has posted 48 kills to just three errors.
• Baughman's three aces vs. Dominican were a career high.
UP NEXT
• Millersville starts its return trip but stops in Philadelphia for two matches on Saturday. The Marauders play USciences at 11 a.m., and follow with Mercy at 1 p.m.
