ASTON, Pa. - The Stevenson women's volleyball team earned a 3–0 MAC Commonwealth victory over Neumann on Wednesday evening at The Mirenda Center, winning by set scores of 25–23, 25–19, and 25–15. With the win, the Mustangs improve to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Set 1: Stevenson opened the match trailing 3–0 before Neumann extended its lead to 5–3. The Knights maintained the advantage throughout the middle portion of the set, leading 15–11 before the Mustangs began to chip away behind attacks from
Sydney Salazar and
Rachel Lenz.
Stevenson cut the deficit to 16–15 and later rallied from a 21–18 deficit to tie the set at 21–21. The teams traded points down the stretch before Stevenson took a 24–23 lead and closed out the opening set, 25–23, with a kill from
Courtney Foose.
Set 2: The Mustangs responded quickly in the second set, taking an early 7–2 lead off a string of
Zoe Folk services. Neumann battled back and eventually took a 16–15 advantage, but Stevenson answered with a 5–2 run to move ahead 20–18. The Mustangs continued to control the closing points with the effort from Lenz, Salazar, and
Lillianna Hornickle, finishing the set 25–19 to take a 2–0 match lead.
Set 3: Stevenson carried its momentum into the third set, building an early 7–3 advantage before extending the lead to 13–6. The Mustangs continued to pull away, leading 18–10 and 23–14 before closing out the match with a 25–15 victory.
Lenz led the Mustangs with 15 kills and 16.5 points while hitting .312 on the night. Salazar added 12 kills while hitting .400, while
Autumn Henry recorded nine kills and hit .444.
Maren Zepfel added four kills, while Hornickle contributed two.
Foose recorded 21 assists, while
Declyn Tooze added 13 assists. On defense,
Isabella Terra posted eight digs and
Lilly Eichelberger added 12 digs. Stevenson finished the match with a .317 hitting percentage compared to Neumann's .189 and held a 52–40 advantage in digs.
Stevenson returns to action on Friday, September 25, when it hosts Christopher Newport and Notre Dame of Maryland for a tri-match beginning at 3:30 p.m.
