The Le Moyne Women’s Volleyball team burst out of the gate at full speed on Saturday taking two solid 3-0 wins in both of their matches at Ted Grant Court. Le Moyne opened against Chestnut Hill and finished the day with a victory against Mercy. Senior Bethany Fabian who accumulated 25 digs and 16 kills, led the Dolphins to their solid victory.
Le Moyne and Chestnut Hill went back and forth in the opening game resulting in a 25-17 win for the Dolphins. Le Moyne took an early lead in the second, but Chestnut Hill rallied back at 22-18. With some strong plays at the conclusion of the second game Le Moyne took it 25-18. This 2-0 lead propelled the Dolphins in the third game. After several shifts of possession, senior Morgan McDermott put away a beautiful pass to end the match. Head Coach Kenneth King was surprised by Chestnut Hills strength, but was pleased that they pushed the Dolphin squad to fight for every point.
The Dolphins reached some great numbers during this match. Sophomore Megan Maisonet tallied 40 assists, seven digs and four kills. McDermott registered a season best of 13 kills while Fabian captured her third double- double.
The second match of the day was against the Mercy Mavericks and the Dolphins shed no mercy on them. With a strong team effort Le Moyne easily took the first game 25-10. Le Moyne went behind 3-0 in the beginning of the second game but came back to win 25-13. The Mavericks put up a fight in the third but the Dolphins went on to win it 25-16. Maisonet passed to fellow sophomore Kristen Willets who ended the game, putting the Mavericks out of their misery.
Le Moyne looks to keep improving as they move forward this season. After the matches, Morgan McDermett commented on the team’s play and what is yet to come. “Our communication on the court was much better than previous matches and we played more aggressively” she said. “We have some tougher competition coming up so we need to just stay focused on those things and have fun.”
Reflecting upon the two wins, King states “I was pretty satisfied with the two wins. Chestnut Hill improved a great deal over the past couple of years, but I did not expect them to be as good as they showed Saturday. Mercy played hard and made us execute well”.
The Dolphins are now 4-2 for the season and look to increase their four match winning streak this weekend when they face Ursuline and Millersville Saturday, and then Notre Dame and Edinboro Sunday. There are more great things to come with the team this season, King says. “Keeping momentum going is not as much a priority as continuing to improve” he said. “We have 5 non-conference matches prior to our NE-10 opener vs. New Haven. Our priority is to iron out the kinks so we are in sync come the NE-10 schedule. Obviously winning is a big part of that and will be the reward if we continue to improve”.
