SELINSGROVE, Pa. –The William Smith volleyball team closed out its regular season with two five-set losses this afternoon at the 19th annual River Hawk Classic hosted by Susquehanna University. The Herons fell 3-2 to Rochester and the host Riverhawks and fell to 21-5 on the season. With the wins, the Yellowjackets move to 13-16 on the season, while Susquehanna moves to 19-12 overall.

 Junior Malya Sayre led the Herons through two matches, tallying 39 kills on a .172 hitting percentage and back-to-back double-doubles. With her eighth kill of the day, Sayre surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark, marking the first player to do so in program history. She added 30 digs, seven blocks, three assists and two service aces on the day.

Classmate Hope Von Dohlen added 21 kills through ten sets, hitting a .212 clip. She added five blocks and five digs in the losses. Junior Jaylynn McCarthy chipped in 15 kills this afternoon, hitting .184 out of the middle. She added seven blocks, five digs and four service aces. First-year libero Kali Vanderhoof tallied 43 digs and three service aces this afternoon.

First-year setter Delainy Williams tallied 83 assists this afternoon. With her 20th assist against Susquehanna, she surpassed the 1,000-career assist mark. Williams is the first Heron to achieve this milestone within her rookie season. She added 11 digs, seven blocks, five service aces and five kills in the losses.
  
MATCH MOMENTS:
 
Match 1 (Rochester):

• The opening set was a back-and-forth battle between the Herons and the Yellowjackets and saw 17 tie scores and seven lead changes to open the match. William Smith put down 10 kills (.109) as a team but were matched by a 13 kill (.109) performance by Rochester who slipped away with a tight 25-23 win in set one.
• The Yellowjackets continued on their momentum into the second set and combined for a match-high 16 kills (.333) while holding the Herons to a match-low seven kills (.088). Ashley Cook and Myla Nover-Estes led the way for Rochester as they doubled their lead with a 25-16 win in set two.
• William Smith responded well in the must-win set and found crucial points from the service line and their defense. The Herons combined for three service aces and four blocks to grab a 25-23 win in set three to extend the match to a fourth set.
• The Herons found their most efficient offense performance in the must-win fourth set, putting down a match-high 14 kills (.237) as a team and holding the Yellowjackets to a match-low eight kills and a -.029 hitting percentage. Sayre led the way with five kills (.200) to force a fifth set with a 25-19 win in set four.
• The back-and-forth battle continued in the fifth set with the two sides being tied four times in the final set. Despite a late comeback by William Smith, Rochester closed out the fifth with a kill and a service ace to sneak away with a 16-14 win in set five, snapping the Herons eight match winning streak.

Match stats:

• Sayre paced the Herons with 17 kills (.111) through five sets and was followed by McCarthy (.438) and Von Dohlen (.143) with eight kills each. First-year Arielle Newsome added six kills (.200) out of the middle in the loss.
• Williams led William Smith from the setter position and tallied 39 assists in the five-set loss. She added six digs, five blocks and two kills (.063) in the nonconference loss.
• The Herons combined for 75 digs as a team and had three players record double-digit digs. Vanderhoof led the team with 26, while Sayre added 16 for her 14th double-double of the season. Junior defensive specialist Cydney Fernandez added 14 digs for William Smith.
• William Smith put on a dominant performance at the net and tallied 15 blocks as a team compared to Rochester's three. Newsome led the Herons with a career-high eight blocks and was followed by Williams with five. McCarthy and Sayre chipped in four blocks each.
• The Herons also held an 8-7 edge in service aces and were led by Williams with three. Fernandez added two service aces in the loss while McCarthy, Sayre and Vanderhoof each chipped in one for William Smith.

Match 2 (Susquehanna):

• William Smith and Susquehanna opened the back-and-forth battle with a strong first set as the Herons combined for nine kills (.065) and three aces compared to the River Hawk's eight kills (.200) and four aces. Susquehanna limited their errors to take the first set 25-20.
• The River Hawks continued their momentum into the second set and combined for 12 kills (.312) as a team. Despite putting down 13 kills (.133) as a team, the Herons continued to rack up the errors handing Susquehanna another 25-20 win to extend their lead to 2-0.
• The Herons responded well in the third and put down 16 kills (.351) as a team while allowing the River Hawks to just seven (.065). William Smith added three aces to take the must-win set 25-17.
• William Smith continued to roll in the fourth set and combined for a match-high 17 kills (.229) as a team while holding Susquehanna to a match-low five kills (.000). The Herons spread their offense with five hitters recording at least three kills to grab a 25-22 win, forcing a decisive fifth set.
• Susquehanna jumped out to an early lead in the fifth set and never looked back. The River Hawks combined for eight kills (.211) as a team compared to the Herons seven (.158) and found three kills from Emily Kowalski to close out the match on top 15-12.

Match stats:

• Sayre led the Herons for the second time of the day with 22 kills (.250) and was followed by Von Dohlen with 13 (.258). First-year Emily Fulton came off the bench and added eight kills, hitting .438 through three sets. McCarthy chipped in seven kills out of the middle.
• Williams had a stellar performance in the setter position for William Smith and tallied 44 assists in the loss. Her 20th assist of the match was the 1,000th of her career. Williams added five digs, three kills, two blocks and two service aces in the five-set thriller.
• The Herons combined for 59 digs in the loss and were led by Vanderhoof with 17. Sayre followed closely behind with 14 for her 15th double-double of the season. Fernandez chipped in seven in the loss.
• William Smith also tallied 10 blocks as a team and was led by Newsome with seven. McCarthy, Von Dohlen and Sayre chipped in three blocks each.
• The Herons continued to impress from the service line and tallied 10 aces as a team. McCarthy led the way with three and was followed by Williams and Vanderhoof with two each.

 
UP NEXT:
 
William Smith will be back in action next weekend when it plays in the Liberty League semifinal match on Friday, Nov. 15. The Herons will play the winner of third-seeded Clarkson and sixth-seeded Skidmore in the semifinal match at 4 p.m. at Ithaca.