CLEVELAND, Ohio—The William Smith volleyball team split action this afternoon at the Case Western Tri-match. The Herons defeated the host Spartans 3-0, before falling 3-0 to No. 11 Calvin 3-0. With the results, William Smith improved to 17-5 on the season.
First-year Cassidy Breuer had a big day for the Herons, combining for 20 kills (.280), 12 digs, three blocks and three assists. She averaged 3.33 kills per set, 2.00 digs per set and 3.67 points per set on the afternoon. Junior Emily Fulton also had an impressive day, combining for 17 kills (.121), 10 digs and one service ace through two matches. Classmate Arielle Newsome added 16 kills (.371), seven blocks, two digs and two service aces out of the middle.
First-year Senya Dorny chipped in 15 kills (.231) on the right side and added two blocks, two digs and a service ace, while senior Maren Hunt recorded seven kills (.385), four blocks and a dig. Junior setter Delainy Williams combined for 63 assists, 12 digs, two service aces, two blocks and two kills (.091) through two matches. Junior libero Kali Vanderhoof led William Smith defensively and tallied 21 digs and one service ace on the afternoon.
MATCH MOMENTS:
Match 1 (Case Western):
- The back-and-forth battle began in the opening set as William Smith combined for 17 kills (.286) compared to the Spartans' 16 (.262). Case Western jumped out to an early 20-14 lead before the Herons fought back, sending the set into extra points. A big kill from Newsome as well as a Spartan hitting error would hand the Herons a come-from-behind 26-24 win in set one.
- William Smith continued on its momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead to start set two. The Herons combined for 12 kills (.290) in set two while the Spartans put down 12 kills (.125) as well. Case Western racked up eight hitting errors, handing William Smith a 25-20 win in set two.
- The Herons closed out the sweep with a 15 kill (.250) performance in the final set. Case Western put down 11 kills (.286) and made a final push but William Smith used two kills from Fulton and a Spartan attack error to close out the non-conference battle on top, 25-21.
MATCH STATS:
- Newsome led William Smith with 12 kills on one error (.500) in the sweep. Breuer added 11 kills (.267), while Fulton chipped in eight (.250). Dorny recorded seven kills (.136) on the right side, while Hunt added five (.300) out of the middle.
- Williams tallied a match-high 36 assists in the win. She added eight digs, two service aces, one block and one kill for the Herons.
- William Smith combined for 42 digs as a team and was led by Vanderhoof with 12. Williams chipped in eight digs, while Fulton and sophomore Madilyn Kresl added seven each in the win. Breuer recorded six digs for the Herons.
- The Herons served up six aces in the win and were led by Williams and Newsome with two each. Vanderhoof and Dorny chipped in one service ace each for William Smith.
- The Green and White tallied five team blocks in the sweep and were led by Newsome with three. Breuer and Hunt added two while Williams chipped in one.
MATCH 2 (Calvin):
MATCH MOMENTS:
- The first set was a thriller between the Herons and the Knights. William Smith put down 13 kills (.184), while Calvin responded with 13 kills (.194) of their own. The Herons took the early lead but the Knights fought back late in the set. Calvin used a service ace to secure a come-from-behind 25-23 win in set one.
- Calvin used its late first set momentum in the second set, firing off 13 kills (.333) while holding William Smith to a match-low eight kills (.0.00). The Knights forced the Herons out of system often which resulted in eight hitting errors for William Smith. Calvin closed out set two on top, 25-15.
- The third set saw both sides offenses thrive. The Herons combined for a match-high 13 kills (.387) but were matched with a 17-kill (.412) performance from the Knights. Calvin closed out the sweep with a 4-0 scoring run to defeat William Smith 25-18 in the third set.
MATCH STATS:
- Fulton (.029) and Breuer (.300) led the Herons with nine kills each in the loss. Dorny chipped in eight kills (.353) for the Herons, while Newsome added four (.154) out of the middle. Hunt recorded two kills (.667) in the loss.
- Williams tallied a team-high 27 assists in the loss. She added four digs, one block and one kill (.167) for William Smith.
- The Herons combined for 31 digs as a team and were led by Vanderhoof with nine. Breuer chipped in six while Williams added four. Fulton, Kresl and first-year Addison Werner added three digs each in the setback.
- William Smith combined for seven total blocks and was led by Newsome with four. Hunt and Dorny added two, while Williams, and Breuer chipped in one each.
COACHES CORNER:
"Today was a great learning day for us!" said Head Coach Derryk Williams. I thought we played really well against Case Western and did some awesome things against Calvin. We're a few minor adjustments away from being exactly where we want and I know we'll get there this week. We scheduled a strong finish for a reason and I'm fired up for us to get two more strong matches before Liberty League playoffs."
UP NEXT:
William Smith will be back in action Saturday, Nov. 7, as it travels to Haverford, Pennsylvania, for another tri-match. The Herons will take on No. 20 Batten at 1 p.m. before closing out action against the host Haverford at 3 p.m.
