ALLIANCE, Ohio – Junior libero Alyssa Kasaris (North Royalton) picked up her 1,000th dig in the second set and the Mount Union women's volleyball team shutout Case Western Reserve in 3 sets 25-21, 25-14 and 25-16 Wednesday night at the MAAC.
 
Kasaris led the defense with 12 digs, while junior setter Mollie Thomas (Massillon / Massillon Perry) had 11 digs on the night.
 
Offensively, the Purple Raiders (5-0) were led by freshman outside hitter Darby Leininger (Chardon / Beaumont) with 12 kills while freshman outside hitter Heaven Bartell (Cleveland / St. Joseph Academy) finished with nine kills.
 
Thomas led Mount Union with assists with 18 on the night with junior setter Katie May (Brecksville / Independence) finished with 14. Senior outside hitter Maria Ellesin (Alliance / Marlington) led in blocks with three and had eight kills as well. 

Case Western Reserve (2-3) came out with the first two points but a quick 6-0 run by the Raiders got the lead out to 6-2. Mount Union was leading 13-9 and then a 11-5 run by Case brought the score in favor of the visitors 20-19. Mount Union finished the set on a 6-1 run to including two kills from Leininger and junior right-side Isabella Sprunger (North Royalton) to pull away for a set one win of 25-21.
 
The second set saw Kasaris get her 1,000 dig and Mount Union jumped out to a 5-2 run which was fueled by three Ellesin kills. The Raiders used a 10-3 run later in the set to pull away picking up a 25-14 set win. Mount Union hit .293% in the second set with just two attacking errors while Case Western Reserve hit just .094% on 6 errors.

Mount Union picked up the sweep with a third set win of 25-16. The Raiders had 13 kills with a hitting percentage of .211 while Case Western Reserve had 10 kills with a hitting percentage of .128.

Mount Union heads to the Pam Briggs Classic Friday and Saturday September 10th and 11th hosted by Capital University in Columbus, OH.