CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton volleyball program wrapped up the 2023 season on Saturday with a doubleheader split, falling to Southern Maine in Little East Conference action before closing out the season on a high note with a win over Fisher College.
 
The Spartans end the campaign 7-16 overall and had numerous matches that were within reach. As a team, VTSU Castleton set a new program record for kills in a season with 754, as well as a single-season record for kills per set with 9.4. Their season-long attack percentage ranks second-best in program history, and the team's single-season assist and assists-per-set records belong to the 2023 roster as well with 683 total assists and 8.5 assists per set. The 2023 team had the third-most digs in a season in program history (1,313), and had the second-most digs per set as a team (16.4).  A large group of returning student-athletes shows early promise for the 2024 campaign.
 
Hailey Martinovich had a monster day to cap off her impressive junior season, racking up a combined 32 kills, 26 digs and three aces over the two matches. Her afternoon was highlighted by a 21-kill outing against Fisher College, a total that ranks as second-most in a four-set match in program history and ties a career-high for a single game. She was efficient in amassing those kills, hitting .462 in the match—the second best single-match rate of her career.
 
Of all players who have attempted at least 20 attacks in a match for Castleton, Martinovich's .462 hitting percentage ranks as sixth-best in a single match in program history. Her 218 kills this season were a career high and rank as the third-most in a single season in program history. She also finished the year in the top-10 on the single-season digs chart, collecting 244 digs to rank seventh. Vanessa LeBrun also made the list with 231 digs this season, good enough to tie for 10th-most in a campaign.
 
Maddie Delsignore hit a pair of milestones in the contest, first setting a new single-season program record for assists. She finished the year with 535 assists and, in the process, became the first player in program history to amass 1,000 career helpers. She previously set the program's career assist record against UMass Boston last weekend. Delsignore also contributed four aces and 15 digs on the day in addition to her setting prowess.
 
Other standouts from Saturday include Jocelyn Ray—who had 16 kills, four aces and four blocks—and LeBrun, who had 11 kills and 33 digs over two matches. Ray finished her first year with 36 total blocks, the seventh-most in a single season. Isabella Luna added 18 digs across the two matches and Caitlin Mahoney had 17. Madison Sheehan logged 12 total points thanks to eight kills, an ace and four total blocks—two solo and two assisted. Sheehan's 30 total blocks this season tie for 11th most in a year for Castleton.
 
In the match against Fisher, Castleton came out firing. The Spartans rattled off seven points in a row to take an 8-4 lead in the first set. A 7-1 run later in the frame made it a 19-11 lead for the hosts after a pair of kills by LeBrun and a Delsignore ace. A quick 4-0 run thanks to a handful of Fisher errors put the Spartans ahead 23-13, and Martinovich put a bow on the set with a pair of kills to close it out 25-15.
 
Castleton got points in three-point chunks in the second set's early stages, taking a 12-5 lead behind four different 3-0 runs. A 5-1 spurt later in the frame made it 17-10, and an 8-0 run to end the frame gave Castleton a 25-12 win in the second set. The stretch featured four kills by the Spartans and an ace by Sophia Call.
 
Fisher claimed a close third set 25-23 to force a fourth, but the Spartans were resilient in the final frame. After losing the third, Castleton opened up a 10-2 lead in the fourth. A 7-0 run gave them that edge, with all seven points coming on Castleton kills or aces. A 5-0 run later in the set made it 18-5. Fisher got three points back on a trio of Castleton errors, but the Spartans buckled down and closed out the match on a 7-0 run to take the fourth set 25-8 and the match 3-1.