Albion, Mich. - The Albion Women's Volleyball team remained perfect after a clean sweep vs. Ohio Northern University.
Bri Whitfield led the offense for the Brits with 11 kills and added in seven digs. While
Carly Frank and
Emma Pagliarella were close behind with nine kills each.
Paige Williamson led the defense with 16 digs, while
Molly Edmunds (12) and
Ava Wilcox (10) both added double digit digs as well. Pagliarella also anchored the net as she had 2.5 of the teams five blocks while Frank held down the service line with four aces.
The Brits came out strong, opening on a 18-5 run, never allowing the Polar Bears to earn more than one point at a time. Five different Brits would put the ball down to help give the team the 13 point lead. The Bears would string together a few points off of the Brits errors before an error of their own would give set 1 to the Brits. The Britons recorded 17 kills and hit .217 in the first set, while recording 24 digs, with Williamson tallying nine of those.
The Brits would open set 2 as strong as they played set 1 with five straight balls finding the court on the Bears side. ONU would continue to fight crawling back within one as we entered the back half of the set. It would be a back and forth battle before
Margaret Jones would put the ball down to give the Brits a 2-0 lead. The Brits once again hit a .217 recording 16 kills, with Whitfield recording five of those. The Brits also recorded an impressive 4 blocks in the second set, with Pagliarella record her 2.5 blocks in this set.
The Britons would come out swinging looking to put this game away. They would open the game on a 7-2 run with five kills and an ace to start things off. ONU would look to come back, however Frank would have another idea. A kill and two aces by Frank, along with kills by Pagliarella and
Hanna Pardon would give the Brits an 18-5 lead. Pagliarella would continue to have a night as in a five point range she would record three kills to put the Brits up 23-10, nearing their fourth win of the season. The Brits would hold strong and head into weekend two undefeated. The Britons would hit an impressive .424 in the final set, with Pagliarella recording five of the 16 kills.
"We had a great defensive night it was so fun to watch our defense lead the way and the offense really connect. Excited for this group to keep growing" said Head Coach Kristin Slamer-De St.Aubin when asked about her thoughts about tonight's performance and heading into their first road games.
The Britons return to action Friday September 11th as the travel to Holland, Mich to compete in the MIAA/NCAC Crossover where they will face Denison at 5 PM.
News and Notes:
- The Britons recorded their most kills (49) in a three set match
- The Brits hit a season high .424 in set 3, just the second time they have hit +.400 this season
- They also recorded a high of 79 digs in a three set match
- The recorded their fewest serve receive errors of the season with just three
- The Brits tie their season high of seven aces in a game
- Carly Frank recorded a season high six digs
- Bri Whitfield recorded her third straight game with double digit kills
- Emma Pagliarella ties her season high of 4 blocks and records a season high .500 hitting percentage (when attempting more than 10)
- Margaret Jones recorded her first ace of the season
- Carson Howard hit a season high .250
- Molly Edmunds recorded her second double-double of the season
- Hanna Pardon recorded a season high five kills and .143 hitting percentage
- Ava Wilcox recorded her second straight game with double digit digs
- Paige Williamson recorded her third straight 15+ dig game, hitting double digits in all four games
- Annalynn Mann saw her first action of the season and recorded her first dig
- Taegen Anderson and Haiden Morrison made their collegiate debut tonight
