WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's volleyball team split a pair of games against the University of Southern Maine and Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday afternoon at Geissler Gymnasium.
The Camels opened the day with a 3-0 win over Southern Maine, prevailing by set scores of 25-15, 25-12 and 25-18. Conn then took a set off ECSU before ultimately falling 3-1 by set scores of 25-27, 25-21, 25-19 and 25-23.
Christina Leduc (North Dennis, Mass.) paced the Camels with a combined 18 kills in the two matches.
Amanda Kreidler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) and
Emma Wheeler (Meredith, N.H.) chipped in 16 kills apiece while
Riley Lord (Exeter, N.H.) added 14 and
Katherine Randall (Chicago, Ill.) finished with 13.
Conn College (5-3 overall) returns to action on Tuesday, September 27 at Salve Regina University. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Game 1 – Conn College 3, Southern Maine 0
The Camels never trailed in the opening set and used a 7-0 run to pull out to a 19-9 lead. Randall did the heavy lifting during the stretch, swinging for four kills to give Conn its biggest lead of the set. After a quick timeout and five straight points got Southern Maine back in the running, the Camels responded with a 5-0 spurt to get to set point, and
Katie Gunderman (Oakland, Calif.) supplied the final kill to secure the 1-0 lead.
Another 7-0 run gave Conn an 11-4 cushion in the ensuing set. From there the lead ballooned to as many as 13 before the Camels wrapped up the 2-0 lead on a kill by
Taylor Knott (Chapel Hill, N.C.).
The Huskies won the first point of the final set to take their first lead of the day, but it proved to be short lived. Conn won the next three points and led the rest of the way, extending the margin to as many as nine. Kreidler saved six of her seven total kills for the final set, paving the way for the Camels' fourth-straight non-conference victory.
Leduc also finished with seven kills in the match, with Wheeler and Randall adding six and five, respectively.
Natasha Shrivastava (San Diego, Calif.) handed out a match-high 20 assists while
Julia Dailey (Charlottesville, Va.) led all players with 11 digs.
Game 2 – ECSU 3, Conn College 1
Conn fell into a 5-0 hole in the opening set but quickly regrouped, pulling within two at 10-8 before ripping off five straight points to lead 13-10. Lord provided a pair of kills during the run, and the Camels played from in front until the Warriors tied the game once again at 21-21. Both teams then saved a set point, but Conn took control on back-to-back kills by Leduc and wrapped up the set on an ECSU error.
The next two sets were up for grabs, but the Warriors came through in crunch time in both. In the second, Eastern trailed by one before winning eight of the final 11 points to even the match. The score was also tight in the third, but Anna Barry answered the bell for the hosts with a late kill and block.
With her team down a point in the fourth set, Lord sparked a 5-0 run with three consecutive kills to give the Camels a 16-12 advantage. Conn later led 21-17 and 23-21 but couldn't close it out, as Eastern scored four straight points to end the match.
Leduc finished with a season-high 11 kills while Lord recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs. Wheeler also turned in a solid performance with 10 kills and seven blocks, and Randall added eight kills and a team-high 19 digs.
