GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith College volleyball team suffered two losses this afternoon in Bristol Gymnasium to close out the 2023 Heron Invitational. The Herons fell 3-0 to Stevens Institute in their first match of the day, followed by a 3-1 loss to St. John Fisher University this evening. William Smith falls to 6-6 on the season, while the Ducks move to 6-4 and the Cardinals move to 5-8.
 
Sophomore Malya Sayre led the Herons, recording 26 kills, 17 digs, four service aces and one block through two games. She recorded her second double-double (16K, 13D) of the season in the four-set loss to the Cardinals this evening.
 
Junior setter Elaina Wamhoff was named to the Heron Invitational All-Tournament team after three strong performances for William Smith. Through three matches, Wamhoff recorded 70 assists, 17 digs, six service aces, five kills and three blocks.

MATCH MOMENTS:
 
Match 1 (Stevens):

• The Ducks came out firing in set one with the Herons after playing a four-set match with Cortland earlier in the day. Stevens hit .368 as a team compared to William Smith's .138. The Ducks also held an edge in kills in set one with 16 compared to the Herons eight. Stevens took set one, 25-15.
• The second set was plagued with errors by both sides as William Smith (-.109) and Stevens (-.041) both hit in the negatives as a team. Set two was filled with back-and-forth runs by both sides, including nine blocks in the set by the Herons. William Smith was led by first-year Maren Hunt with three blocks in the set. The Ducks prevailed in set two as they took a 27-25 win to give Stevens a 2-0 lead.
• Stevens' offense continued to shine in the third set, hitting .214 as a team, while keeping William Smith (-.030) to a negative hitting percentage for the second straight set. Sayre led the Herons with five kills (.300) in the third as William Smith would drop the final set, 25-15.

Match stats:

• Sayre led the Herons with 10 kills (.188), while sophomores Jaylynn McCarthy and Marin Montagne chipped in four each.
• Junior setter Elaina Wamhoff recorded 17 assists, seven digs and one kill (.091) in the loss.
• Junior Ariana Angus recorded a team-leading nine digs, while McCarthy and Montagne chipped in eight each.
• Hunt led William Smith with three blocks through three sets, while Wamhoff added two.

Match 2 (St. John Fisher):

• William Smith looked to respond in its second match of the day, this time against St. John Fisher. Both teams came out firing in set one with the Herons racking up 12 kills to open the set compared to the Cardinals nine. Angus went on a strong service run, recording three aces as the two teams went head-to-head with six tie scores and two lead changes. Fisher took the hard fought first set, 25-22.
• The Herons opened set two with a 5-0 scoring run after three early aces for Malinaric. The Cardinals fought back and continued on their momentum from set one, hitting .281 compared to William Smith's .000. Fisher went on a lengthy run to put the Cardinals up 17-11, which proved to be too much of a deficit for the Herons to climb out of. St. John Fisher extended its lead to 2-0, taking the set, 25-17.
• William Smith responded in set three, hitting a game-high .368 as a team with 10 kills. The Herons took an early 4-0 lead after strong serving from Wamhoff. Sayre led William Smith with five kills, hitting .500 as the Herons took set three, 25-18.
• The Cardinals came out strong to open set four, going on an 8-1 run to grab the early lead. Fisher hit .231 in the set, putting down 14 kills to grab a 25-18 set four win to close out the match on top, 3-1.

Match stats:

• Sayre led William Smith for the second time of the day with 16 kills (.070), followed by McCarthy with nine (.273) and Montagne with five.
• Wamhoff recorded 26 assists, seven digs, four kills (.091) and four service aces in the four-set match.
• Sayre recorded a team-leading 13 digs for her second double-double of the season, while McCarthy and Montagne chipped in 10 each.
• The Herons showed strong from the service line, serving up 15 aces on the night. Wamhoff led the charge with four, while Angus, McCarthy and Malinaric each chipped in three.
• Umlauf posted a team-leading three blocks, while McCarthy added two.

UP NEXT:
 
William Smith will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 30, when the Herons travel to Poughkeepsie, New York, to open conference play against Vassar. First serve between the Herons and the Brewers is set for 6:30 p.m.