Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College volleyball team hosted 2024 NEC Champion Chicago State University in a conference match on Friday evening. The Dolphins came away with a 3-1 victory with set scores of 25-21, 27-25, 17-25, 25-17 and now sit with a w-14 overall record while going 1-3 in conference play this season.
In set one, Le Moyne came out to a 2-0 lead before Chicago State earned five-consecutive points and eventually took a 16-15 lead midway through the set. The Dolphins, however, surged for streaks of two, three, and five straight points culminating in a pair of kills by junior opposite hitter Branwyn Lupton (Napanee, O.N. / Napanee District Secondary School) to close out the set with a 25-21 victory.
Set two started out in a similar fashion with Le Moyne taking a 2-0 lead before the squads went back and forth, eventually notching at 18 points apiece. The Dolphins and Cougars then each recorded five straight points to tie the set, 24-24, before a service error and kill by sophomore outside hitter Denali Louden (Murrieta, C.A. / Murrieta Mesa) gave Le Moyne the 27-25 set win.
Chicago State came away with a 25-17 victory, closing it out with three straight points before Le Moyne closed out the match due in large part to taking a quick 9-1 lead in set four which included four service aces from senior setter/DS Haley Gerken (Buffalo, N.Y. / Frontier). The Dolphins fought to remain in the lead the entire set and closed it out with two straight three and four-point streaks and a final service ace from sophomore outside hitter/DS Piper Hooey (Elmira, N.Y. / Elmira).
Lupton led Le Moyne with a match-high 12 kills while sophomore outside hitter Nina Salas (Austin, T.X. / McNeil) finished right behind with another eight against the Cougars. Gerken also posted a pair of match-highs with 38 assists and four service aces in the victory.
On the defensive end, sophomore libero/DS Brooke Menke (St. Louis, M.O. / Visitation Academy) led the Dolphins with 17 digs while Gerken and Louden each added 10 in the match, as well. Freshman middle hitter Eiley Schneider (Ramsey, N.J. / Ramsey) led Le Moyne with seven block assists against Chicago State
For Chicago State, Jocelyn Carter and Nayella George tied for the team lead in kills with 10 apiece with George also adding a team-high four service aces against Le Moyne. Lea Linares Castro (18) and Zeynep Ertam (13) contributed the bulk of the team's assists in the loss. Defensively, Alyssa Ferreira tallied a match-high 21 digs as Linares Castro and Graci Littlejohn each registered one block solo while Carter added nine block assists.
What's Next:
The Dolphins will close out their season series against Chicago State at home tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 11 at 1:00 p.m.
