PITTSBURGH, Pa.—The William Smith volleyball team opened the 2025 Carnegie Mellon Tournament with a dominant performance as it swept Muhlenberg 3-0 this evening in Highmark Center. With the win, the Herons improve to 8-1 on the season, while the Mules fall to 7-6 overall.
 
William Smith dominated the stat sheet as it swept Muhlenberg in the nonconference contest. The Herons put down 45 kills as a team, hitting an impressive .429 clip in the sweep while holding the Mules to just 19 kills and a .041 hitting percentage. William Smith also held a 9-1 advantage in service aces as well as a 9-3 edge in blocks against Muhlenberg. The Herons combined for 31 digs as a team, while the Mules tallied just 16 in the loss.
 
Senior outside Malya Sayre led William Smith with 13 kills, hitting .222 against the Mules. She added two service aces, two digs, one block and an assist in the sweep. Sophomore Emily Fulton added nine kills, hitting an impressive .500 clip through three sets. She added seven digs, two service aces and a block in the win. Senior Jaylynn McCarthy (1.000) and sophomore Arielle Newsome (.700) tallied seven kills each out of the middle and combined for seven blocks for the Herons. Senior Hope Von Dohlen chipped in six kills (.400), two blocks and a dig in the win for William Smith.
 
Abigail Oswari led the Mules with six kills (.333) in the loss. Jenny Ryan tallied a team-high eight assists for Muhlenberg and added two digs through three sets.

MATCH MOMENTS:

• The Herons came out firing in set one, combining for a match-high 18 kills (.412) as a team compared to the Mules' match-high nine kills (.167). After trading the early points, William Smith grabbed the momentum mid set and never looked back. Back-to-back errors from Muhlenberg handed the Herons a 25-17 win in set one.
• William Smith continued on its momentum into set two as the Herons combined for 15 kills (.522) as a team compared to Muhlenberg's match-low four (-0.05). William Smith jumped out to a 9-2 run behind a strong service run from sophomore Delainy Williams and kept the lead for the remainder of the set. A big kill from Von Dohlen would seal the 25-15 win for the Herons in set two.
• Errors plagued the Mules in set three as they combined for seven hitting errors on only six kills (-0.043) in the third and final set. The Herons tallied 12 kills, hitting .350 to close out the sweep with a dominating 25-13 win in set three.

MATCH STATS:

• Sayre paced the Herons with 13 kills (.222), while Fulton chipped in nine kills (.500) in the sweep. McCarthy (1.000) and Newsome (.700) chipped in seven kills each, while Von Dohlen added six kills (.400) in the win.
• Sophomore setter Delainy Williams had another impressive performance for the Herons, tallying a match-high 33 assists. She added six digs, four service aces, two blocks and two kills (1.000) in the sweep.
• William Smith combined for 31 digs as a team in the win and was led by sophomore libero Kali Vanderhoof with eight. Fulton chipped in seven digs, while Williams added six in the sweep. Senior Marin Montagne added three digs for the Herons.
• The Herons continued to impress form the service line and tallied nine aces as a team compared to the Mules' one. Williams led the way with four aces, while Sayre and Fulton chipped in two each. Senior Cydney Fernandez added one service ace in the win for William Smith.
• The Green and White showed strong at the net, combining for nine blocks in the win. Newsome tallied a match-high five blocks, while junior Maren Hunt, McCarthy, Williams and Von Dohlen added two each.

COACHES CORNER:

"Tonight was a really great start to the weekend!" said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "I thought we served well and set the tone for ourselves after a long trip out to Pittsburgh. Two great opponents tomorrow that we are excited to compete against!"

UP NEXT:
 
William Smith will be back in action tomorrow to compete at Day 2 of the Carnegie Mellon Tournament. The Herons will take on John Carroll at 11 a.m. before closing out the weekend's action against No. 22 Carnegie Mellon at 3 p.m.