CANTON, N.Y.—The William Smith volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 sweep of St. Lawrence this evening in the North Country to open conference play. With the win, the Herons move to 10-2 on the season with a 1-0 record in conference play, while the Saints fall to 1-10 overall and 0-1 in the Liberty League. 

The Herons put on a dominant performance against the Saints, putting down 36 kills on an impressive .276 hitting percentage as a team compared to St. Lawrence's 22 kills and .010 hitting percentage. William Smith tallied eight service aces as a team while not allowing the Saints to a single service ace. Junior Marin Montagne led the Herons with three on the night.

Junior Malya Sayre led William Smith with nine kills (.129), nine digs, two blocks and one service ace in the sweep. Classmate Jaylynn McCarthy (.583) and first-year Emily Fulton (.500) chipped in seven kills each in the win. The duo added two digs and two service aces through three sets.

Araiza Acum-Santos led the Saints with six kills (.095) and eight digs in the loss. Vanessa Latam tallied 16 assists through three sets.

MATCH MOMENTS:

• The Herons jumped out to an early lead in set one and never looked back. William Smith combined for 11 kills (.313) as a team as the errors plagued the Saints who racked up 10 hitting errors on eight kills (-.057). The clean play propelled the Herons to a 25-13 win in the opening set.
• William Smith opened the second set on a 5-0 run after two big kills by Sayre and two service aces by Montagne. The Herons used the early momentum to double their lead as they combined for 12 kills (.265) as a team to earn a dominant 25-10 win in set two.
• The Herons combined for a match-high 13 kills (.250) as a team in the third set and held the Saints to just nine (.091). The William Smith block stepped up in the final set as the Herons closed out the sweep with three big blocks to take the third 25-14.

MATCH STATS:

• Sayre led the Herons with nine kills (.129) and was followed by McCarthy (.583) and Fulton (.500) with seven each. Junior Hope Von Dohlen added five kills (.176), while first-year Arielle Newsome tallied four kills (.286) on zero errors in the win.
• First-year setter Delainy Williams continued to shine for William Smith, recording 23 assists and eight digs in the sweep. She added one block, one service ace and one kill.
• William Smith combined for 51 digs on the night and were led by first-year libero Kali Vanderhoof with 13. Sayre chipped in nine digs in the win, while Williams and Montagne added eight each.
• The Herons dominated from the service line, tallying eight aces compared to the Saints zero. Montagne led the way with three, while McCarthy chipped in two. Sayre, Vanderhoof and Williams all recorded one service ace in the sweep.
• William Smith held a 6-4 advantage in blocks against St. Lawrence and were led by Newsome with six. Sayre and Von Dohlen chipped in two each in the win.

COACHES CORNER:

"Tonight was a great start to conference play for us!" said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "We had a collective win and improved throughout the match. I'm really happy with how the team played and am excited to see how we compete against Clarkson tomorrow!"

UP NEXT:
 
William Smith will be back in action tomorrow when it takes on Clarkson in a rematch of last years Liberty League semifinal match. First serve between the Herons and the Golden Knights is set for 2 p.m., in Alumni Gymnasium.