GENEVA, N.Y.—The William Smith volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 conference sweep over RIT this afternoon in Bristol Gymnasium. With the win, the Herons improve to 19-4 on the season with a 6-1 record in conference play, while the Tigers fall to 8-15 overall and 1-6 in the Liberty League.
 
William Smith dominated the stat sheet in the conference battle. The Herons put down 32 kills as a team (.291), while the Tigers tallied only 19 kills (-.131) in the loss. William Smith held a 9-3 edge in service aces over RIT and added a 10-2 advantage in blocks against the Tigers. RIT held a 34-30 edge in digs over William Smith.
 
Senior outside Malya Sayre led William Smith with 12 kills (.500) in the sweep. She added seven digs, three service aces and three blocks in the win. Sophomore Arielle Newsome chipped in seven kills (.263) out of the middle and added six blocks and two digs for the Herons. Senior Jaylynn McCarthy added six kills (.556), while sophomore Emily Fulton (.053) and senior Hope Von Dohlen (.333) chipped in three kills each in the win.
 
Anna Wasula led the Tigers with six kills (-.040) and seven digs. Olivia Colling tallied a team-high 15 assists in the loss.

MATCH MOMENTS:

• William Smith came out firing in the opening set, putting down a match-high 13 kills (.294), while holding RIT to just six and a -0.100 hitting percentage. The Tigers racked up nine hitting errors in the opening set, handing the Herons a 25-17 win in set one.
• The Herons turned up the heat in the second set and held the Tigers to a match-low four kills (-0.333). A strong service run by sophomore Delainy Williams gave William Smith a large lead and the Herons never looked back. They closed out the second set on top 25-9.
• William Smith closed out the sweep with another impressive performance in the third set, combining for 12 kills (.310) as a team and holding RIT to just nine kills (.000). A Tiger hitting error once again handed the Herons a 25-19 win.

MATCH STATS:

• Sayre paced the Herons with 12 kills (.500) in the sweep. Newsome added seven kills (.263) out of the middle, while McCarthy chipped in six (.556) in the win. Von Dohlen (.333) and Fulton (.053) added three kills each for William Smith.
• Sophomore setter Delainy Williams tallied a match-high 27 assists in the win. She added three service aces, two blocks, two digs and a kill in the sweep.
• William Smith combined for 30 digs as a team and were led by sophomore libero Kali Vanderhoof with 10. Sayre chipped in seven, while Fulton added four.
• The Herons combined for nine service aces in the win and were led by Sayre and Williams with three each. Fulton added two aces, while senior Cydney Fernandez chipped in one ace in the sweep.
• The Green and White were dominant at the net, tallying 10 total blocks as a team. Newsome tallied a match-high six, while Sayre chipped in three. Williams recorded two blocks for the Herons.

COACHES CORNER:

"Tonight was a great bounce back win for us to have!" said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "We executed well and saw focuses from practice translate to the match which I loved to see. Big weekend ahead for us and I'm excited to see the team compete!"

UP NEXT:
 
William Smith will be back in action Saturday, Nov. 1, when it travels to Schenectady, New York, to take on Union (16-8, 5-1 LL) and Babson (17-5) in a Tri-Match. The crucial Liberty League matchup with the Garnet Chargers is set for 11 a.m. and is followed by a matchup with the Beavers at 1 p.m. at Union's Viniar Athletic Center.