HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Arcadia University women's volleyball team opened play at the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks Classic Friday night by upsetting No. 19 Eastern 3-2. In the second match of the night, the Knights took on 24
th-ranked Christopher Newport, falling 3-1.
FOR THE RECORD: The Scarlet and Grey moved to 6-2 on the year. Eastern fell to 7-3, while Christopher Newport improved to 8-1.
Arcadia 3, No. 19 Eastern 2 (26-24, 19-25, 25-19, 26-28, 17-15)
HOW IT HAPPENED: After finding themselves behind 13-7 in the first set, Arcadia stormed back with seven of the next eight points to tie the set at 14. The teams were neck-and-neck the rest of the set, until the Knights scored the final four points to take the set 26-24. After falling 25-19 in the second set, Arcadia scored the final five points in the third set to take it 25-19.
A back-and-forth fourth set went to the Eagles, setting up a decisive fifth set. Eastern came out and scored the first five points of the set only to have Arcadia retaliate with a five-point run of its own. Back-to-back kills from junior
Lizzie Joseph gave the Scarlet and Grey its first lead of the set at 9-8 lead. The scoreboard differential wouldn't show more than one until the Knights claimed the matches final two points to clinch the upset.
ARCADIA LEADERS: Joseph and Freshman
Allison Elechko led the way offensively with 13 kills each. Elechko added four aces and two blocks along with five digs. Freshman
Lauren Enfield recorded a dozen kills to go along with three aces, three blocks and seven digs. Freshman
Julia Paliwodzinski dished out 44 assists, while sophomore
Emily Eng registered 24 digs. Junior
Katie Wilson totaled five blocks to lead the Knights.
EASTERN LEADERS: Caroline Shelby posted 19 kills and 12 digs to lead the Eagles. Ally Spillane contributed 12 kills. Miranda Kaufman registered a team-high 15 digs, while Kylie McCusker handed out 45 assists.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: The Knights outscored Eastern 79-64 in the match, while hitting 24.1% as a team with 58 kills. The Eagles hit just 19% as a team with 50 kills and 24 errors.
No. 24 Christopher Newport 3, Arcadia 1 (24-26, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25)
HOW IT HAPPENED: Arcadia was in front for much of the first set, leading by as many as four, before the Captains used a pair of late runs to claim the set. After finding themselves in a hole in the second set, the Knights rallied with a 14-3 run to pull within five points while holding off match point for five rallies.
In the third set, the Scarlet and Grey jumped out to an early 6-2 lead and led by as many as seven points. With the set tied at 23, Joseph and Enfield each recorded a kill to give the Knights the set win. Arcadia battled hard in the fourth set, but the Captains used an eight-point run in the middle of the set to take control.
ARCADIA LEADERS: Enfield and Joseph led the offense with 12 kills each; Enfield also added three aces and six digs. Elechko added 11 kills, while posting five aces, three total blocks and five digs. Paliwodzinski dished out a match-high 36 assists and recorded 13 digs, while Eng led all players with 20 digs.
CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT LEADERS: Katie Piper had 18 kills to lead the Captains, followed by Katelyn Newsome with 11. Hope Webb led the team with 26 assists, while Josie Lucernoni had a team-high 16 digs.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Each team scored 64 points, with Arcadia posting more kills (51-48), aces (9-8), assists (50-47) and digs (58-52).
