WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson Women's Volleyball team notched their first sweep in Presidents' Athletic Conference play over the visiting Franciscan Barons Saturday (Oct. 5.) afternoon at home in the Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
The Presidents won the first set with ease, cruising to a set one victory after starting the set with a 12-0 rally. The rally included three kills from Senior Jaden Blough (Meyersdale, Pa. Meyersdale) and five service aces from sophomore Rian Benz (Strongsville, Ohio/Holy Name). Franciscan answered with a short-lived rally of their own to make a dent at the score, closing it to 13-5. The Presidents, however, shut them down and methodically added to their tally. Both units traded back-and-forth blows, until the Presidents closed out the opening set of play, 25-13.
The Barons opened set two strong, quickly gaining a 5-2 lead. The Presidents battled back to a 10-7 deficit before a kill from Abby Oldham (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell), two kills from Blough and an error committed by Franciscan gave W&J the edge they needed to gain the lead, 11-10. Both teams put up a fierce fight trading the lead until the Presidents pulled away on two points tallied by kills from Little and Alexandra Ash (Richmond, Ohio/Edison), respectively, to put W&J ahead 15-13. From there, the Red & Black extended their lead to 18-15 over the next five points and ended the second set on a hot streak rallying seven-straight points to end out the set at 25-15. Two service aces from Little and a kill from Oldham aided in the rally to end set two.
Both teams knotted things up at 3-3 to start the third set. Franciscan held upper hand early as they slowly assembled a 13-7 lead. Four kills from Blough, all assisted by Adrianna Sacramento (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Woodland Hills), accounted for four of W&J's next six-straight points. With the score tied at 14-14, the two teams remained trading the tying point until Franciscan strung two tallies together to gain a 19-17 lead. W&J quickly managed to put up five straight points to take the lead, 22-19. Not going down without a fight Franciscan fought back to a 24-23 score before a service error would put the Presidents on top, 25-23, to take the final set and complete the sweep.
Blough led the team in kills with 12, also contributing three digs and two total blocks. Sacramento and Brielle Moorhouse (East Liberty, Ohio/Benjamin Logan) collectively tallied 28 assists with 17 being credited to Sacramento and 11 to Moorhouse. Sacramento is now fifth in career assists at W&J, with only 27 more to tally before attaining fourth-place all-time. Defensively, Piper McFarland (West Mifflin, Pa./Cornerstone Preparatory Academy) led the team with 15 digs followed by Sacramento with 10. W&J returns to their home court this Wednesday (Oct. 9), and honors Morgan's Message during an evening matchup with Saint Vincent. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
