WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS NORWICH, 3-0

BOSTON, Mass. – A balanced offensive attack powered Emmanuel College past Norwich University, 3-0 (25-11, 25-10, 25-20), Wednesday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium in Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's volleyball action. With the win EC improves to 6-10 overall, records their fifth consecutive victory and stays perfect in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference at 4-0 while the Cadets fall to 2-8 overall and 1-2 in the GNAC.

The Saints jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the opening frame behind the service game of senior libero Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.). EC extended the early lead to 9-1 following a Cadet hitting error forcing the visitors to burn a timeout in an attempt to regroup. The hosts made it 10-1 with an ace by sophomore setter Carly Church (Higganum, Conn.) out of the break to keep the momentum. Norwich cut the gap to 12-8 following back-to-back Emmanuel hitting errors and a kill by freshman middle hitter Ashley Nau (Sunrise, Fla.) but the large deficit was too much to overcome as the Saints rolled to a 25-11 first set win.

In similar fashion, Emmanuel opened up a 5-0 lead to begin the second set and the Cadets never recovered as EC cruised to a 25-10 win. The Saints service game challenged the visitors serve-receive, never allowing Norwich to get in an offensive rhythm as Schemerhorn rattled off four service aces in the frame. EC also hit a combined .375 as a team compared to a negative .192 hitting percentage by NU.

Norwich fought to extend the match in the third set as an ace by freshman Sarah Zazmierczak followed by an Emmanuel hitting error gave the Cadets a 9-8 lead. NU extended the lead to 11-8 to force the Saints to take their first timeout of the evening but the visitors rattled off two more points out of the break to take a 13-8 lead midway through the action. Emmanuel fought back and evened the score at 18-18 on a kill by sophomore Casey Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) After trading points to a 20-20 score, the Saints finished the match off with a 5-0 run for a 25-20 third set win.

For Emmanuel, sophomore outside hitter Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) led all hitters with 16 kills, swinging at a .481 clip from the field. Senior outside hitter Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) added eight kills while classmate Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) chipped in with seven winners. Schemerhorn finished the match with six aces and nine digs.

Freshman outside hitter Monika Schneider (Hollis, N.H.) paced the Cadets with team-highs in kills (5) and digs (7) while freshman Michele Zummo (Highland Mills, N.Y.) added four kills.

The Saints return to action this Friday when they travel to Bristol, R.I. for the Roger Williams Invitational as EC takes on Worcester State University at 5:00 PM. The Cadets return to the hardwood on Saturday, Oct. 1 when they host Saint Joseph's College (ME) at 1:00 PM in another GNAC tilt.