The William Smith volleyball team got back in the win column as the Herons defeated Skidmore 3-1 in a Liberty League matchup Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Herons move to 15-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play, while the Thoroughbreds fall to 9-13 overall with a 2-4 mark in the Liberty League.
William Smith put on an impressive performance and led in several statistical categories. The Herons combined for 54 kills as a team on a collective .254 hitting percentage. Skidmore tallied 37 kills on a .089 hitting percentage. William Smith tallied six service aces compared to the Thoroughbreds three and enjoyed a 9-4 advantage in blocks. The Herons also held a 62-55 edge in digs through four sets.
Junior Malya Sayre led William Smith in the win with 18 kills, hitting .208 in the conference matchup. She added three service aces, one block and 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Classmate Marin Montagne chipped in 15 kills (.273) and 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. First-year Arielle Newsome added a career-high nine kills and four blocks out of the middle for the Herons.
Maya Stolarz led the Thoroughbreds with eight kills (.316) and one block through four sets. Catriona Hoelperl tallied 16 assists and two kills in the loss.
MATCH MOMENTS:
- The Herons grabbed the early momentum in the first set and tallied 11 kills (.161) as a team compared to the Thoroughbred’s nine (.088). Sayre led William Smith with five kills in the opening set to hand the Herons a 25-17 win to open the match.
- William Smith came out firing in the second set and combined for a match-high 17 kills (.455) as a team. The Herons held Skidmore to just 10 kills (.194) and found seven kills from Montagne to extend their lead to 2-0.
- In a must-win set for the Thoroughbreds, Skidmore responded well and put down a match-high 12 kills (.111). They held the Herons to a match-low 10 kills (.050) to force a fourth set with a 25-21 win.
- William Smith fired back with an impressive performance in the fourth set. The Herons combined for 16 kills (.382) and held the Thoroughbreds to a match-low six (-.029). Sayre put down six kills herself and added one service ace to close the match out with a dominating 25-11 win in set four.
MATCH STATS:
- Sayre paced the Herons with 18 kills (.208) and was followed by Montagne with 15 kills (.273). Newsome chipped in nine kills (.333) out of the middle, while junior Hope Von Dohlen added six (.188) in the win.
- First-year Delainy Williams tallied a match-high 35 assists for William Smith. She added seven digs, three blocks and one service ace in the four-set win.
- The Herons combined for 62 digs as a team and had three players register double-digit digs. First-year Kali Vanderhoof led the team with 20, while Sayre chipped in 12 and Montagne added 11.
- William Smith had a strong performance at the net and tallied nine blocks as a team. Junior Jaylynn McCarthy led the Herons with five blocks, while Newsome and Von Dohlen chipped in four each.
- The Herons recorded six service aces as a team and were led by Sayre with three. McCarthy added two aces, while Williams chipped in one in the win.
COACHES CORNER:
“I’m really happy with the response I saw from our team in the last set today,” said Head Coach Derryk Williams. “Skidmore gave us everything they had today, and we did a great job of taking care of business on the road. Three big matches next week so it will be another great test for us moving forward!”
UP NEXT:
William Smith will be back in action Wednesday, Oct. 23, when it travels to Rochester, to take on RIT in a crucial Liberty League matchup. First serve between the Herons and the Tigers is set for 6 p.m. in Clark Gymnasium.
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