ALLIANCE, Ohio—The Mount Union Women's Volleyball team beat Saint Vincent in straight sets in a non-conference matchup on a Wednesday night.
Mount Union (3-2) won each set by double digits, with the sets going 25-7, 25-11, and 25-15. The Raiders committed only eight errors in the match and were led by junior
Zoe Sweigart (Canal Winchester), who had eight kills. Freshmen
Pailee Wilson (New London) and
Hailey Rings (Lancaster) got their first kills of their Mount Union career in the match. Senior Libero
Averi Haley (Orrville) led the Raiders with 13 digs while sophomore
DeLani Durst (Clyde) and junior
Anna Mihacevich (Hinkley / Padua Franciscan) finished with 19 and 17 assists.
Mount Union was a well-oiled machine in set one, jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead after Senior
Molly McKee (North Ridgeville) won the first point of the match for the Purple Raiders. St Vincent called a timeout to try to slow the Raiders down, but Mount Union came out continuing to do more of the same, pushing it to a 13-3 lead which forced St Vincent to call their second time out to try to regroup. The Purple Raiders didn't let their big set one lead slip away and finished a dominant first set by a score of 25-7. The Raiders committed only three errors in the set, while also securing 15 kills and two aces. Seniors
Ava Bolen (Wellsburg, W. Va. / Brooke) and
Sadie Thomas (Maplewood, Pa. / Maplewood) led the attack for the Raiders with four kills each.
The second set saw St Vincent getting more comfortable into the match but the Raiders still pulling away. The two teams traded points to a 6-5 Mount Union lead until the Raiders went on a 5-1 run to make it 11-6. The Raiders never looked back from there, securing an 18-11 lead which forced St Vincent into a timeout then continuing to a 25-11 set win. Wilson was subbed in late in the set and secured her first kill of her Mount Union career. The Raiders kept playing a clean game, committing only three errors in the set, and were led by
Cami Welty with four kills in the set, followed closely by Bolen and McKee, who each had three kills in the set.
Set three, the final set of the match, saw St Vincent putting up an early fight but the Raiders eventually putting the match away. Mount Union got out to a quick 6-2 lead before St Vincent closed that gap tying the set up at seven a piece then taking an 8-7 lead. The Raiders got right back in it immediately after giving the lead up scoring five straight to make it 12-8 and forcing St Vincent to call time out. The time out didn't matter, the Raiders never looked back and ended up winning the set 25-15. Rings got the final point of the match for the Raiders which was also her first kill of her Mount Union career.
The Mount Union Women's Volleyball team has two matches this upcoming Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio against Allegheny College and Nazareth University, and are back at their home gym on Wednesday, September 16th against Westminster College.
