CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's volleyball team split its home tri-match Saturday afternoon. The Spartans fell 3-0 to Little East opponent WestConn, and won 3-1 over Fisher College.
 
The Spartans offense was powered by 20 kills from Alondra Rojas who dished out 42 assists on the day. Victoria Garcia led the Spartan defense with 24 digs on the day, contributing three aces. Jocelyn Ray put up three blocks through the two matches.
 
WestConn 3, VTSU Castleton 0
Rojas had eight kills and 17 assists in the first match of the day, racking up 10 digs as well. Garcia had a team-high 13 digs, adding three services aces.
 
The Spartans came out hot, jumping to a 6-4 lead in set one before battling back-and-forth with the Wolves. The Spartans led 20-14 before the Wolves capitalized on hitting errors and kills to tie the game 25-25. The Spartans earned the next point off a kill from Rojas before the Wolves scored four unanswered points to take set one 29-26.
 
The Spartans took a 9-4 lead to start set two before the Wolves took control of the set to lead 20-16. A kill from Rojas tied the game 22-22 before trading points with the Wolves, who were able to serve up an ace to win set two 27-25.
 
The Wolves took control of set three, going up 10-5, before the Spartans took advantage of service and attacking errors by the Wolves to get within six. Ava Grace Gardner earned two kills before solidifying the win for the Wolves with a block to take set three 25-16 and the match 3-0.
 
VTSU Castleton 3, Fisher 1
Hailey Martinovich had a team-high 14 kills in match two of the day, with Rojas contributing 12 and serving up six service aces, continuing to lead the Little East with 68 total.
 
Set one was even most of the way, with one team pulling ahead by three points before the other could answer. The Falcons took the largest lead of the set, 23-17 before Madison Sheehan brought the Spartans back within five. Alicia Tkach ended set one with a kill, giving the Falcons a 25-20 win.
 
The Spartans came out strong in set two, taking a 7-1 lead and not letting up from there. The Falcons fought back, but the Spartans took advantage of attack errors to go up 21-6 before winning set two 25-11. Set three was back-and-forth, with each team pulling ahead at varying times throughout the set, but the Spartans held on to take set three 25-18.
 
Set four went the distance, with each team never getting more than three points ahead. The Spartans scored three straight points down 27-26 to win the set 29-27, and the match 3-1.
 
The Spartans are on the road Saturday, October 12 at Eastern Connecticut State for a tri-match with Western New England at 12 and 2 p.m.