CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's volleyball team battled hard in a pair of matches on Saturday, falling to Rhode Island College in Little East Conference play and Fisher College in non-conference action at Glenbrook Gym.
The Spartans and Anchorwomen battled for five sets before Castleton ultimately fell 25-21, 20-25, 25-15, 20-25, 13-15. Fisher rolled to a 3-0 win over Castleton despite a tight middle set as the Spartans fell 25-11, 28-26, 25-12. Castleton is now 3-8 on the season and 0-2 in LEC play.
Hailey Martinovich had 21 kills across the two matches, while
Vanessa LeBrun had 14 and
Jenna Schott added 12.
Maddie Delsignore combined for 48 assists over the two contests and had a team-high 30 digs on the day, while Martinovich added 27 digs and LeBrun had 21. Schott was a force at the net, blocking three shots unassisted and two assisted.
Castleton won the opening set against Rhode Island College, but the Anchorwomen stormed back in set two to level the match at 1-1. Castleton dominated set three 25-15, but RIC again stole the fourth set to level the match at 2-2 and send the game to fifth set. In the final frame, RIC raced out to a 5-2 lead, but Castleton scored four in a row to take a 6-5 edge before RIC called timeout. The break snapped Castleton's momentum as the Anchorwomen scored the next point to tie it at 6-6. After Castleton regained a one-point lead, RIC rattled off five straight points for an 11-7 lead. The Spartans continued to fight, scoring four unanswered points of their own to make it a one-point game, 13-12, in the final set. RIC went ahead 14-12, but an error made it 14-13, keeping Castleton alive. A final kill from the Anchorwomen ended the contest.
Fisher took the first set of the second match 25-11, but Castleton showed resiliency in the second frame of the match, pushing it to extra points. The Falcons led 24-21 with service on their side, but Martinovich and
Caitlin Mahoney logged kills to make it a one-point match before Martinovich struck again to tie it at 24-24. After a Fisher timeout, Castleton took a one-point lead, 25-24. Fisher scored the next two points for a 26-25 edge, but the Spartans tied the score once more when Delsignore registered a kill. Fisher scored the final two points of the set, however, taking a 28-26 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. The final set was all Falcons, with Fisher claiming a 25-12 win in the frame to close the contest.
Castleton is back in action Tuesday night at Norwich at 6 p.m.
