CRESSON, Pa. (September 28) – The Waynesburg University volleyball team falls to 3-9 after dropping a pair of non-conference matchups against Mount Aloysius and La Roche on Saturday.
Game 1 – Mount Aloysius 3, Waynesburg 1. (25-18, 32-30, 27-25, 25,16)
The first set went back and forth until Waynesburg found its stride scoring seven straight points to grab an 11-7 lead. Mount Aloysius responded later in the set with six straight points to tie up the set 18, but the Jackets did not allow the Mounties to score another point in the set to capture the first set with another seven-point run.
Mount Aloysius and Waynesburg opened the second set trading blows as there were seven total runs of four points or more between the two teams. The Jackets took the final lengthy run of the set to hold a 20-18 lead, but consistent effort by the Mounties brought them to a 24-23 set point. The Jackets refused to give up the set, surviving multiple set points in a set that has eight total set points until Mount Aloysius ended the set with a score of 32-30.
The Jackets opened the third set with a 6-2 lead but the Mounties responded with a seven-point run, capturing a 12-9 lead. The two battled back-and-forth for the duration of the set with Waynesburg taking a 24-23 lead off a two-point run. The late lead was not enough after Mount Aloysius took four of the last five points to win the set 27-25.
Mount Aloysius then fourth broke the set open with four separate runs of three points or more to build 24-11 lead and clinched the match with a final score of 25-16.
Madi Dayton (Ridgeley, W. Va. / Calvary Christian) led the Jackets offense this game with 14 kills and matched a career best 19 points while adding on 14 digs to earn a double-double for the game, her third of the season. Sophomore
Kristina Zadrozny (McDonald, Pa. / West Allegheny) totaled 8 kills on the day for Waynesburg.
Riley Ruffley led the team with 18 assists while Senior
Paige Cousley (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) totaled nine assists and 10 digs.
On the defensive side senior
Jordan Stein (Manor, Pa. / Norwin) had 26 digs to lead Waynesburg. Stein added on three service aces to lead the Jackets in the game. Up next was Dayton with five total blocks combined with her second best 14 digs. Behind Dayton in digs was junior
Macee Cree (Garards Fort, Pa. / Mapletown) with 13 digs.
Game 2 – La Roche 3, Waynesburg 2. (25-21, 25-22, 25-22, 27-25, 15-11)
Waynesburg went the distance against La Roche but were defeated in five sets.
La Roche started the set out hot by scoring 11 of the first 15 points of the match but after some back and forth play, the Jackets responded by scoring six straight to take a one-point lead at 15-14. Following the run the Redhawks clawed back to earn a 19-18 lead, then Waynesburg continued the offensive attack with a second six point run to retake the lead 24-19 and take the set 25-21.
It was Waynesburg's turn to start the set hot scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the second set until La Roche retaliated with scoring 12 of the next 14 points of the set to snatch a 15-13 lead. Both teams went on back and fourth runs throughout the set with the Redhawks holding on to a two-point lead with a score of 22-20 until they pushed through scoring three of the last five points to win the set and even the match at one set each.
The Jackets and Redhawks battled back and forth for the first 16 points of the third set which ended with Waynesburg clinging onto a 9-7 after a Stein service ace. La Roche caught its stride after answering with scoring seven of the next nine points with five kills to take a three-point lead over Waynesburg (14-11). Both teams traded runs as well as the lead until the game was tied 22-22 which led to a La Roche three point run to take the lead and the set.
The fourth set started out with a scrappy battle to keep a lead in which neither team was able to keep a lead of more than two. After a kill by sophomore
Krista Wilson, (Greensboro, Pa. / Mapletown) La Roche found its groove and responded with six straight points to make the score 18-12. Waynesburg then exploded back onto the court with a 10-point run highlighted by Wilson who had five service aces out of six points to take the lead 22-18. La Roche battled back in the set to tie the set at 25 but Wilson finished her reign of terror with two straight kills to win the set 27-25. Wilson took over the court with six service aces and four kills in the fourth set.
Neither team could pull away to begin the fifth set and the score was tied 5-5 until La Roche scored eight of the next 11 points to take a 13-8 lead. Waynesburg pushed to score three of the next four but all for naught as La Roche scored the final point and took the game with a final set of 15-11.
Offensively the Jackets excelled with service aces having a team total of 20, the most since 2019 against La Roche. Ruffley had seven total aces on the day while adding six kills to not only earn a career best in points, kills, and aces but earn her spot on the team record book. She tied for sixth in aces in a single game. Wilson also added six aces on the day which is a career best for the sophomore.
Mortimore and Zadrozny had double digit kills for the Jackets earning 12 and 10 kills respectively. Ruffley and Cousley led the charge on assists for Waynesburg with 14 and 12 assists between the duo.
On the defensive side, Stein had her best game of the season to date with 37 digs which is her season best and her second best throughout her career. Following Stein was Dayton and Cousley, the pair had eight and seven digs.
Waynesburg is back in action at home on Monday against Penn State Shenango with a start time of 7 p.m.
