Volleyball Cruises Past Lesley in Home Opener

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's volleyball team defeated Lesley University by a 3-0 final in a New England College Conference clash on Saturday afternoon at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

The Mariners, who opened the season with 11 straight road games, made their home debut and made quick work of the Lynx. Mitchell won be set scores of 25-9, 25-10 and 25-5 in a contest that lasted exactly one hour. The home team served at 95 percent for the match and finished with 27 aces.

Bree Rudolph paced the Mariners with seven kills while Olivia DeLoach added six. Cameron Childs posted game highs of 11 aces and nine digs while Lexi Hubbard finished with 19 assists.

Cassidy Wygonik led Lesley with seven kills and Tallin Goldberg and Allison Napoleon each supplied nine digs.

Mitchell never trailed in the opening set and used a 7-0 run on the serve of Hubbard to take a commanding 15-4 advantage. Rudolph and DeLoach each finished with a pair of kills in the set, and Childs provided an ace on set point to put the Mariners on top 1-0.

In the second set, Mitchell led 7-6 before breaking things open with a 13-1 run. The stretch included three service aces by Claire Binfield, two aces by Rudolph and a pair of kills from Laurissa Amaker.

Childs put on a serving clinic in the final set as Mitchell completed the sweep. She served for 13 straight points that included seven aces, helping the Mariners get off to a 17-2 start. Both Rudolph and DeLoach finished with three kills each in the stanza.

Mitchell (6-6 overall, 1-1 NECC) will next play at Purchase College on Monday, September 30 at 7 p.m. Lesley (3-6 overall, 0-2 NECC) returns to action at Fisher College on Sunday, September 29 at noon.