ALLIANCE, Ohio—Mount Union's women's volleyball team swept Capital Friday night with scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 25-21 at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
Leading the Purple Raiders (16-5, 3-2 OAC) in attacking was sophomore
Darby Leininger (Chardon / Beaumont) and senior
Maria Ellesin (Alliance / Marlington) who had nine and eight kills. Ellesin finished the night hitting .571% while sophomore
Catherine Klopp (Sycamore / Mohawk) finished hitting .750% with six kills.
Senior setters
Mollie Thomas (Massillon / Massillon Perry) and
Katie May (Brecksville / Independence) finished with 15 and 11 assists.
Sophomore
Heaven Bartell (Cleveland / St. Joseph Academy) finished with a game-high 15 kills while senior
Alyssa Kasaris (North Royalton) also had double digits with 13 kills.
Leading Capital (8-14, 0-5 OAC) was Lindsay Rich with seven kills, Regan Willoughby with 15 assists and Paree Furness with 13 digs.
In set one Mount Union got out to a 7-2 lead thanks to two kills from Ellesin and two service aces from May. Mount Union grew the lead out to 16-7 thanks to a 6-2 run with four different Raiders getting a kill in the run. A 5-0 run pushed the lead out to 22-9 as the Raiders finished the set winning 25-11.
Set two saw Mount Union jump out to a 5-0 with two kills from Klopp. Capital made a run at Mount Union getting within one at 8-7 but a 4-1 run by Mount Union pushed the lead back out to 12-8. The Raiders got a lead of 21-14 but Capital fought back to get within two at 21-19. Mount Union finished off the set on a 4-0 run finished with a kill from junior
Maddie Wentz (Broadview Heights / Akron Hoban).
Mount Union jumped out to a 11-1 lead in the final set of the night. Mount Union tied its largest lead at 10 leading 15-5 but Capital responded with a 7-1 run to get within four at 16-12. The Raiders fought back with their own 5-0 run with included two kills from Leininger and a kill each from Ellesin and freshman
Sydney Mercer (Beloit / West Branch.) Mount Union got a lead of nine at 24-15 with a kill from freshman
Jordin Kauffman (Avon). Capital responded with a 6-0 run to be within 3 but a service error finished the night as Mount Union won 25-21.
Mount Union now head to fall break for the weekend and gets back to play on Wednesday, October 19 at home taking on Muskingum at 7 p.m.