New Britain, C.T.  – The Le Moyne College volleyball team traveled to take on Central Connecticut State University in an NEC matchup on Friday night. The Dolphins came away with a four-set victory; 21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18 to improve their record to 3-18 overall and 2-7 in conference play this season.

CCSU worked to a 10-7 lead midway through set one, and a run of four straight points late in the frame helped them pull away and take the set, 25-21. Set two was more back-and-forth as both teams went on runs early, but the Dolphins were able to squander any hope of a comeback from the Blue Devils with timely kills late in the set and came away with a 25-21 win. Set three saw four major runs from the squads as CCSU scored five-straight points to take an 11-6 lead but a five-point run from the Dolphins helped them pull ahead 14-13. Another run from the Blue Devils gave them a 20-18 lead but six back-to-back points from Le Moyne gave them another 25-21 win. Set four saw the Blue Devils lessen a 13-4 deficit with eight straight points, but the Dolphins were able to rebound as four late kills and a service ace from sophomore libero/DS Haley Buescher (Toledo, O.H. / St. Ursula Academy) sealed the set and match victories for Le Moyne, 25-18.

For the Dolphins, freshman outside hitter Jordyn Hamlin (Manahawkin, N.J. / Southern Regional) led with 16 kills, while freshman outside hitter Denali Louden (Murrieta, C.A. / Murrieta Mesa) and freshman middle hitter Anaya Rawlinson (Whitby, O.N. / Sinclair Secondary School) each recorded 10 of their own. Freshman setter Skylar Jehlen (Rochester, N.Y. / Churchville-Chili) led the team in assists with 23 while junior setter Haley Gerken (Buffalo, N.Y. / Frontier) added another 16 for Le Moyne. Louden also tallied match-highs in both service aces (four) and digs (18) against the Blue Devils, with freshman libero/DS Brooke Menke (St. Louis, M.O. / Visitation Academy) putting up an additional 17 digs. Also on defense, junior middle hitter Kayla Anstett (Rochester, N.Y. / Hilton) recorded one block solo and two block assists while sophomore opposite hitter Branwyn Lupton (Napanee, O.N. / Napanee District Secondary School) added one block solo and one block assist in the victory. 

For CCSU, Lauren Milani led with 13 kills, while Isabella Baratzke tallied four service aces in the match. Kylee Baranski put up a match-high 26 assists with Weronika Poczynek (12) and Milani (10) leading in digs against Le Moyne. Poczynek and Kaylin Hadely tied for the team-high with one block solo each in the loss to the Dolphins.

The Dolphins will hit the court and wrap up their season slate against Central Connecticut tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 2 at 4:00 P.M.