CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's volleyball team picked up an exciting four-set victory in front of a raucous Glenbrook Gymnasium crown on Wednesday night, defeating SUNY-Cobleskill 3-1 in the Spartans' home opener.
The win snapped a five-year drought in which Castleton had failed to beat SUNY-Cobleskill, with the Spartans' last win over the Fighting Tigers coming in 2016. Castleton improves to 2-2 after the match, while Cobleskill drops to 0-5. Castleton took the opening two sets 25-23 and 25-20 before dropping the third set 25-17. The Spartans closed out the match in the fourth frame, however, claiming a 25-20 win to lock up the 3-1 victory.
The Spartans logged a 43-40 edge in kills, a 38-36 edge in assists and an 11-7 edge in aces on the night. Castleton also racked up five blocks as a team and had 73 digs to Cobleskill's 69.
The rookie
Hailey Martinovich led all Spartans with 14 kills on the night, and added 10 digs for the double-double.
Jessica Trudeau tallied nine kills while
Lizzie Goodrich and
Vanessa LeBrun added six apiece.
Bre MacDuff had four aces in addition to 33 assists on the night, with
Mackenzie Wade adding three aces in addition to her game-high 23 digs.
Jen Halliday chipped in 15 digs in the victory as well as an ace and one kill.
Cobleskill was led by 15 kills and 14 digs by Mackenzie Larson. Victoria O'Bar led the team with 17 digs, and Maleigha Ellithorpe added 14 of her own in addition to 33 assists. Jillian Nitchman had eight kills for the Fighting Tigers, while Alexis Miranda tallied six.
Castleton tallied the first four points of the match to go ahead 4-0 in the opening set, but Cobleskill stormed back later in the frame to take a 16-12 lead following a 6-0 run. Castleton rattled off six unanswered points of its own later in the set, taking a 22-18 lead. The Fighting Tigers clawed their way back to a tied score at 23-23, but kills by Martinovich and Halliday locked in the first-set win for Castleton, 25-23.
The second set saw Castleton trailing early, but the Spartans rattled off five straight points to move ahead 5-3. A 6-1 run later in the set gave Castleton a comfortable 12-6 edge, but Cobleskill stormed back once again to level the score at 17-17. Cobleskill then took a 20-18 lead following a Spartan timeout, but Castleton closed out the set on a 7-0 run capped by two kills from Martinovich and an ace from
Cailin Moskow to move ahead 2-0 in the match.
The two sides battled back-and-forth in the third set, with Cobleskill eventually claiming a 25-17 win that forced a fourth frame. Castleton opened the fourth set with a 4-0 lead, and pushed the advantage to seven points—12-5—after a kill by Trudeau. A quick three-point run late in the set put Castleton ahead 20-12, but Cobleskill again hung tight and closed the gap back to four points, 20-16. The two sides traded points to a 24-20 score, but a Cobleskill error ended the night and secured the victory for Castleton, 25-20, in the final frame.
