Box Score Syracuse, N.Y. -
Haley Blunt brought the offense with 13 kills and
Kaitlyn DeStefano rallied the defense with 10 total blocks to help pace the Adelphi University women's volleyball team to a 3-1 Northeast-10 victory over LeMoyne College on Saturday, September 20. The Panthers claimed a 25-16, 24-26, 25-23, 25-15 win to improve to 2-9 overall and 1-0 in conference, while the Dolphins fall to 2-7 on the season and start the NE-10 slate at 0-1.
Blunt and
Mandy Stanislovaitis were the only members of the Brown and Gold to reach double digit kills with 13 and 11, while
Alayna Jackson made the offense work with 33 set assists. Blunt and Stanislovaitis posted identical kill and dig totals, while
Sierra Crook picked up nine digs. DeStefano led all blocks with a total of 10, including three solo efforts.
Adelphi jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first game, and extended the lead to eight, 17-9, on a Dolphin attack error. They kept the momentum going and closed out the first game on a Blunt kill, 25-16. The Panthers took a 4-3 lead in the second game on another LeMoyne miscue, but the hosts rallied and pushed out to a five point lead, 12-7. The Dolphins continued to lead late, 23-15, but the Brown and Gold ripped off the next nine straight points to take a 24-23 lead on a Stanislovaitis kill. However, LeMoyne composed themselves and scored two of the next three points, eventually knotting the match at one set all on a ball handling error by Jackson, 26-24.
The third set was a back and forth affair, but the Panthers managed to take the lead for good at 24-22, on a
Ajsha Mekulovic service ace while a Stanislovaitis hammer sealed the 25-23 set win. The fourth was the final game, as Adelphi collected a one-sided 25-15 victory on the strength of a .321 attack percentage.
Coach's Comments:"I'm proud of the girls' effort today; they really pulled together in the victory," stated Head Coach
Danielle MacKnight. "We are definitely taking steps in the right direction. LeMoyne played great defense and seemed to get a hand on everything, which absolutely kept us on our toes today."
Up Next:The Panthers will take a few days off before returning to action on Friday, September 26 when they welcome Chestnut Hill to Garden City for a 6:00 pm non-conference contest.
