WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL STAYS PERFECT IN GNAC ACTION WITH TRI-MATCH SWEEP

NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team continued its strong play in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Andrews Hall on the Norwich University Campus. Emmanuel posted 3-0 wins against Norwich and Saint Joseph's, while the Monks won the final match of the day against Norwich by a score of 3-0. With the victories, EC improves to 18-10 overall and a perfec 8-0 in GNAC action.

Emmanuel 3, Norwich 0

In the first match of the day, the Saints downed the Cadets by scores of 25-15, 25-14, and 25-17. The first set was the most competitive, as the two teams battled through five ties and two lead changes in the early points of the game. Emmanuel would eventually prevail on the power of eight kills and 12.1 percent hitting.

The Saints controlled games two and three from the first point. In the third set, Norwich posed a mid-set rally that saw them come within one point at 14-13, but back-to-back kills by Emmaunel's Kaitlyn Atkinson and a service ace by Christine Durkee opened the gap back to four points.

Atkinson paced the Saints with a match-high 11 kills on the strength of 52.6 percent hitting, as she recorded just one error in 15 attempts. Danielle Rose and Cassie Chruscielski both added five kills each for the Saints. Shannon Dudley and Sophie Fish split setting duties for the Saints and totaled 15 and seven assists, respectively. Mellyn Costello led the team defensively with nine digs.

The Cadets saw seven kills from both Tara Lyons (Pocasset, Mass.) and Kelsey Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.). Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) dished out a team-best 16 assists, while Alex Ruediger (Sandy Lake, Pa.) paced the defense with 11 digs.

Emmanuel totaled a .170 hitting percentage on the afternoon, while holding the Cadets to a .040 hitting percentage. The Saints also served nine aces, while Norwich served just three.

Emmanuel 3, Saint Joseph's 0

In the middle match, Emmanuel won their second of the day by scores of 25-14, 25-22, and 25-18. The majority of the game was played at the net, as the two teams combined for 11 team blocks, led by Emmanuel's Brittany Tutalo with two solo and two assisted blocks and Saint Joseph's Ally Hollander, with four assisted blocks.

All three sets were tightly matched, and the match featured 22 ties and 12 lead changes.

Emmanuel used a combined effort to total 41 team blocks. Shannon Dudley, Sarah Colby and Kaitlyn Atkinson all finished with eight kills apiece, while Cassie Chruscielski added seven. Dudley totaled 26 assists on the afternoon. Cara Callahan paced the Saints defense with 13 digs, while Chruscielski chipped in with 11.

Colby, Chruscielski, and Atkinson all contributed two blocks for the Saints.

The Monks were led by Felicia Wachowiak with seven kills, and Shadia Gosselin with six. Mariah Hebert dished out 17 assists for the Monks, who saw a match-high 14 digs from Abbie McPhee. Erica Russi added 10 digs and recorded two service aces.

Emmanuel hit at an impressive 22.6 percent on the second match of the day, while holding Saint Joseph's to a .010 hitting percentage.

*Release courtesy of Norwich University Sports Information Dept.