SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's volleyball team was dealt its first loss of the season on Wednesday night, falling in four sets to Union in non-conference action.
The Spartans (3-1) took the second set 26-24, but dropped the first set 25-16 and sets two and three 25-15, 25-14, respectively. Union (2-2) hit .315 as a team with 59 kills while the Spartans hit .092 with 32 kills. The Garnet Chargers had a 62-48 edge in digs and a 12-6 edge in aces while Castleton had a 4-3 advantage in total blocks.
Jocelyn Ray led the VTSU Castleton attack with 10 kills on the night, marking the first double-digit kill performance of her young career. She also had five digs and a solo block.
Caitlin Mahoney totaled six kills and a pair of aces while
Hailey Martinovich had seven kills. Martinovich logged eight digs as well, with Mahoney added seven.
Isabella Luna led the team with nine digs and
Maddie Delsignore chipped in 13 assists and
Madison Sheehan had three block assists.
Shannon McGrath led all players with 16 kills in the contest for the Garnet Chargers and Maddie McCarron added 13. McGrath also had 16 digs. George Pool led Union's defense with 17 digs on the night.
A big run in the midst of the first set positioned Union with a 13-7 lead. A four-point run later in the set made it 23-14, putting the first frame out of reach for the Spartans and ending 25-15. VTSU Castleton opened the second set with four unanswered points and didn't trail in the set until falling behind 20-19 following a four-point Union spurt. Three points in a row by the Spartans later in the frame made it 23-21 Castleton, but Union leveled the score at 23-23 soon after. The two sides traded points before Ray notched back-to-back kills to end the set with the Spartans on top 26-24.
Union controlled the pace for much of the third set, taking a 21-9 lead before VTSU Castleton rattled off five straight points to pull closer at 21-14. The Garnet Chargers scored four of the last five points in the set to take a 2-1 overall lead with a 25-15 victory. The Spartans used a five-point run in the middle of set four to pull within two, 11-9, but Union responded with five points of its own to regain a 16-9 edge. An 8-1 run to close the night saw the Garnet Chargers victorious 25-14 in the fourth frame and 3-1 in the match.
Castleton returns to action next Wednesday night for its home opener at Glenbrook Gym at 6 p.m. against MCLA.
