CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's volleyball dropped a tight three-set match on Wednesday evening, falling to Union College 3-0 in non-conference action at Glenbrook Gym.
The Spartans (2-2) hung close in each set, falling 25-17, 25-18, 25-22. Union improves to 4-0 with the win and hit .229 as a team in the contest with 40 kills and 16 errors. Castleton hit .121 as a team with 29 kills and 17 errors. The Dutchwomen racked up a dozen aces to Castleton's six and had three blocks to Castleton's one.
Denasia Pompey had nine kills to lead the Castleton attack, swinging at a .600 clip on the night.
Vanessa LeBrun added eight kills and 11 digs, while
Hailey Martinovich had six kills, three service aces and nine digs. Martinovich also had a solo block.
Maddie Delsignore finished the night with 22 assists, and
Mackenzie Wade tied LeBrun for a team-high with 11 digs as well.
Shannon McGrath racked up 11 kills and added five aces on the serve for Union, with Keara Page adding eight kills herself. Mya Delesdernier and Julia Webster had six kills each and Farah Elgala added five. Union's assists were divvied up between Brooke Fleming and Haley Kresch, with Fleming recording 17 and Kresch collecting 14. Kirsten Litchfield was the only Dutchwoman in double figures for digs with 11.
Union ran out to an early 8-2 lead in the opening set with a 5-0 run, but a pair of kills by Martinovich brought the score back to 8-5 with a Dutchwoman error mixed in. Castleton continued to hang tight, battling to a 12-11 score moments later after a kill by
Jenna Schott and an error by Union. The Dutchwomen padded their lead back to three points before the two sides traded scoring to a 16-14 visitor lead. Three consecutive kills by Union pushed the lead to 19-14. Castleton remained within five at 20-16, but Union ended the set on a 5-1 run to take a 1-0 lead, 25-17.
The second set began with a four-point run by the visitors to go ahead 4-0, but a later four-point run for Castleton leveled the score at 10-10 after back-to-back aces by Martinovich. After Union broke the run and took an 11-10 lead, Castleton rattled off five straight points for a 15-11 edge. A timeout by Union broke up the Spartans' momentum, as the Dutchwomen scored three straight points out of the break to draw within a point, 15-14. Castleton stopped the bleeding with a kill from LeBrun, but Union again rattled off four straight points to regain the edge, 18-16. Schott notched another kill to make it an 18-17 set score, but four more points from the Dutchwomen put Castleton on the ropes, 22-17. A service error by Webster gave Castleton life, but three consecutive kills by Union ended the set 25-18, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead.
The third set was an even battle back-and-forth, with neither side ever leading by more than three points in the frame. Castleton was up 11-8 before Union went on a 9-3 run to flip the score to its favor, 17-14. Castleton continued to battle, tying the score at 21-21 before an ace by Delsignore gave the Spartans a 22-21 lead. Another timeout by Union squashed the Spartan momentum as McGrath notched a kill out of the break to tie the score at 22-22 before serving her team to victory, 25-22 in the set and 3-0 in the match.
Castleton returns to action Saturday with a tri-match at Rivier. The Spartans play Wellesley at 1 p.m. and Rivier at 3 p.m.
