NEW LONDON, Conn. – Senior
Avery Light (Sudbury, Mass.) recorded seven kills in her final home match of her collegiate career to help lead the Connecticut College volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Albertus Magnus on Wednesday evening at the Charles B. Luce Fieldhouse. Set scores were 25-14, 25-8, and 25-20.
Connecticut College never trailed in the entire contest and built up an early lead by getting two quick service aces from junior
Christina Leduc. Additional service aces in the beginning stages by sophomore
Valentina Baehrle (Redwood City, Calif.) and junior
Nicolette Marino (Verona, N.J.) kept the Camels ahead, and a kill by Leduc made it 17-10 and prompted a second Falcon timeout. Sophomore
Natasha Shrivastava (San Diego, Calif.) set up Light and freshman
Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) for kills to clinch an 11-point victory.
The Camels then followed with their most dominant performance in a set all season by only allowing the visitors to score eight points while being held to a negative .381 hitting percentage. Sophomore
Emma Wheeler (Meredith, N.H.), who teamed up with junior
Annie Wibbelsman (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) for a block that prompted the first timeout, registered four aces in the set alone. Light and Leduc eventually capped the frame with kills to keep the hosts in full control.
Albertus Magnus (3-21) battled hard in the third set and tied the score for the first time all evening when a solo block by Elayna Beutel made it 17-all. A dump by backup setter
Lauren Carey (New York, N.Y.), which resulted in a kill, followed by an ace two plays later helped spark a 4-0 run to put the Camels back ahead. The freshman quarterback then set up Light for a kill to complete the sweep.
Light set a career high by hitting at a .538 clip to lead the way for Connecticut College. In addition to recording seven kills, she did not commit an error on 13 attack attempts. Shrivastava and Carey combined for 30 assists, while Shrivastava added six digs. Wheeler notched a career-high five service aces to go along with five kills, and junior
Georgia Quesnelle (Marblehead, Mass.) added a team-leading eight digs from the libero position during the second and third sets.
The Falcons got strong contributions from Beutel and Diana Kalman in the losing effort. Beutel finished with four kills and three digs, and Kalman posted nine digs and two blocks. Jaiden Williams concluded the match with seven assists.
With postseason implications on the line, Connecticut College (8-10) will conclude the regular season at Trinity on Friday evening at 7:00 p.m.
