“The season isn’t going as planned,” junior middle-blocker Chelsea Jones said, “but we’ve faced some really tough teams. It’s making us a lot stronger as a team.”
After a long start of the season spent on the road, Cabrini women’s volleyball team brought their first victory to the Nerney Field House tonight against the Neumann University Knights.
With a 3-1 victory over the Knights, both teams kept the fans on their toes with scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-20, and 25-19. Senior outside-hitter Kelly Guarino, alongside with teammates sophomore setter Ashley Shannon and freshman setter Emily Storarski led the Cavaliers with matching double doubles.
The Cavaliers jumped out early in the first frame before the Knights rallied and made the score 18-11. Junior opposite Anne-Marie Jones stopped Neumann with a kill which gave Cabrini a chance to attack, bringing the score to 19-17. Neumann was quick to answer, taking a victory for the first match with a score 20-25.
Both teams were able to take leads throughout the second frame of the match. Cabrini took the first lead, giving themselves a nice cushion with a score of 11-6. It did not take long for the Knights to catch up, as they had an 8-1 run which brought them to the close score of 14-12. The Knights had a few attack errors on the court, which gave the Cavaliers the opportunity to reclaim the lead, giving themselves the victory of 25-20 evening the match to 1-1.
The third match was a battle for both teams. Neumann led by 14-10, but that did not discourage the Cavaliers. The teams were tied 18-18 when Cabrini capitalized on four points, which brought the Cavaliers to a victory.
For the final frame of the match, the Cavaliers made their presence on the court known, building a 15-7 lead against the Knights. The Knights had a 4-0 run, which triggered coach Eric Schaefer’s time out, giving the Cavaliers time to refocus. The Cavaliers dominated, not letting their lead slip below three points, bringing their victory of the frame 25-19.
When asked about dealing with the loss of some crucial players in the Cavalier roster, Jones said, “We have people playing in positions that they haven’t been in before, so it is taking some time to adjust. It’s a work in progress.”
Shannon accumulated a career and match high of 26 digs, while freshman Kristen Bettermann also set a career high of 18 digs. Guarino and Stokarski were responsible for 6 out of 10 Cavalier service aces of the night.
Freshman Melanie Malseed led the Knights with nine kills, while sophomore Rachel Hoffman recorded ten blocks.
Jones was ecstatic about the Cavaliers first Colonial States Athletic Conference victory tonight over the Knights.
“The CSAC teams lost some crucial players from last year, but we all also gained some serious talent,” Jones said. “We are going to approach each game that we have like we are playing the best of the best.”
The Cavaliers welcome Centenary University Cyclones to the Nerney Field House next Thursday. The first serve is slated for 7 p.m.
