WAYNE, N.J.—The William Smith volleyball team added two more wins to its resume as it defeated Centenary (NJ) 3-0 before besting William Paterson in five sets on Day 2 of the William Paterson Tournament. With the wins, the Herons improve to 5-1 on the season, while the Cyclones fall to 1-3 overall and the Pioneers drop to 4-4 this season.
William Smith put up impressive numbers on Day 2 of the William Paterson Tournament. First-year Cassidy Breuer put on a dominant performance, tallying 29 kills (.235), 16 digs, two blocks and two service aces through two matches. Junior Emily Fulton added 27 kills (.278), 28 digs, six service aces and three blocks on the afternoon. Fulton recorded back-to-back double-doubles bringing her season total to four.
Junior Arielle Newsome also had a big day for the Herons, combining for 12 kills (.156), eight blocks, two digs and two service aces in the wins. Senior Maren Hunt added 11 kills (.421), four blocks and two digs out of the middle, while first-year Senya Dorny chipped in 11 kills (.200), eight digs, five blocks and one assist on the right side.
First-year Jayden Hanson and junior Delainy Williams led William Smith from the setter position this afternoon. Hanson tallied 38 assists, 15 digs, nine kills (.158), three blocks and two service aces, while Williams added 46 assists, 17 digs and two aces. Defensively, William Smith was led by junior libero Kali Vanderhoof. She combined for 56 digs, including a career-high 40 dig performance against the Pioneers, and seven service aces.
MATCH MOMENTS:
Match 1 (Centenary):
- William Smith came out hot in the opening set of the day, firing off 12 kills (.219) as a team and holding Centenary to just six (.031). The Herons took the early lead and never looked back as they closed out set one on top, 25-13.
- The Herons continued to roll in set two, putting down a match-high 14 kills (.163), compared to the Cyclones' five. Centenary put up a fight in the second set, forcing the Herons to seven hitting errors but couldn't hold the strong William Smith offense as the Herons closed out set two with a 25-18 win.
- William Smith put on a dominant performance in the third set as it combined for 13 kills (.257) and held the Cyclones to a match-low four kills (-0.094) and seven hitting errors. A service ace by Hanson would close out the sweep with a 25-11 win in favor of the Herons.
MATCH STATS:
- Breuer led William Smith with 11 kills (.167) in the sweep. Fulton added 10 (.261), while Dorny chipped in eight (.278). Newsome tallied six kills (.143) in the win, while Hanson added three (.231) for the Herons.
- Hanson and Williams tallied 16 assists each in the win and combined for nine digs and three kills.
- William Smith tallied 54 digs as a team and were led by Vanderhoof with 16. Fulton chipped in 12 digs, while Breuer added seven. Williams and Dorny recorded six digs each in the win.
- The Herons served up nine aces a team and were led by Fulton with three. Hanson and Newsome served up two aces each, while Vanderhoof and Breuer chipped in one each.
- The Green and White combined for four team blocks and were led by Newsome and Fulton with two each. Hanson, Dorny, Hunt, and first-year Sage Duerr tallied one block assist each in the sweep.
MATCH 2 (William Paterson):
MATCH MOMENTS:
- William Paterson jumped out to an early lead before William Smith fought its way back into the opening set. The Pioneers combined for 15 kills (.262) as a team compared to the Herons' 15 (.303), but a kill by Presley Weber would close out set one in favor of the hosts 25-23.
- The second set saw the Herons combine for just nine kills (.135) compared to the Pioneer's 15 (.231) as William Paterson once again jumped out to a lead. William Smith continued to fight back and showed strong from the service line. The Herons closed out set two on an 11-0 scoring run to grab a 25-20 win to tie the game at 1-1.
- The back-and-forth battle continued in set three as William Smith combined for 14 kills (.289) as a team. William Paterson fought back with a match-high 18 kills (.318) and thanks to a late push, the Pioneers took set three 25-22.
- In the must-win set for the Herons, William Smith put on a dominant performance, putting down 13 kills (.429) on just one error. They held William Paterson to just 10 kills (.167) as they forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-13 win in set four.
- The fifth set saw both sides trading momentum and the lead. The Herons combined for nine kills (.118) as a team, while the Pioneers tallied seven kills (.063) in the final set. After forcing the set into extra points, William Smith used a William Paterson hitting error and a Fulton kill to close out the non-conference battle on top, 17-15.
MATCH STATS:
- Breuer tallied a team-high 18 kills (.286) in the win, while Fulton added a season-high 17 (.286). Hunt chipped in a season-high 10 kills (.412) out of the middle, while Newsome (.167) and Hanson (.120) added six kills each. Dorny recorded three kills (.083) in the win.
- Williams and Hanson put on an impressive performance from the setter position in the five-set win. Williams tallied 30 assists, 11 digs and two service aces, while Hanson recorded 22 assists, 12 digs and six kills (.120).
- The Herons combined for 93 digs in the win and were led by Vanderhoof with a career-high 40 digs. Fulton chipped in 16, while Hanson added 12 and Williams added 11. Breuer chipped in nine digs in the win as well.
- William Smith served up 12 aces in the win, including a season-high six aces from Vanderhoof. Fulton chipped in three aces, while Williams added two. Breuer served up one ace in the win.
- The Green and White combined for nine team blocks in the thrilling win and was led by Newsome with six. Dorny chipped in four blocks, while Hunt added three. Breuer and Hanson tallied two blocks each for William Smith.
COACHES CORNER:
"I'm so proud of the resilience of our team!" said Head Coach Derryk Williams. "We had our backs against the wall multiple times and found a way to respond and win. This was a great weekend overall for the program and now we're back on the grind ahead of some tough competition next week."
UP NEXT:
William Smith will be back in action next weekend as it travels to Massachusetts for the 2026 New England Classic Sept. 18-19. The Herons will take on Brandeis on Friday at 6 p.m. to open the tournament.
