Johnson, Vt. – The Spartans used strong defense and solid hitting to earn a pair of straight-set victories over Lyndon St. and Johnson St. in a tri-match hosted by Johnson St. on Saturday afternoon.

Castleton opened the day against Lyndon St. with a 25-14 win in the first set. The Hornets challenged the Spartans in the second set, 25-23, but Castleton put them away in the final set, 25-19.

The Spartans piled up 31 kills led by junior Grace Schreiber (Cheshire, Conn.) and her 11 kills while freshman Bridget McCarthy (Nashua, N.H.) dealt out a whopping 23 assists to go with 11 digs to key the win. 

The Spartans strong defense allowed only five service aces for Lyndon while also piling up 51 digs. Nicole Valastro (So. Glens Falls, N.Y.) finished second on the team with 10 digs while Sarah Wheeler (Kinderbrook, N.Y.) added seven kills and three service aces.

Lyndon's senior Erica Ponte (Westport, Mass.) and junior Morgan Diltz (Moultonboro, N.H) each had six kills while freshman Laura Drake (Hinsdale, Mass.) had a team-high 11 assists.

In final match of the day, Castleton's balanced lineup assisted on all 27 of the team's kills and doubled up the Badgers in digs, 54-27, as the Spartan rolled to the 3-0 win.  Freshman Michaela Babineau (Fitchburg, Mass.) had 14 assists to go with five digs while classmate Amanda Chambers (Lake George, N.Y.) had nine kills and six digs. 

The Spartans improve to 7-8 overall with the victory and 3-2 in the North Atlantic Conference. Castleton returns to action on Tuesday when the team hosts Cobleskill at 6 p.m. in its senior game