Volleyball Rolls Over Dean

NEW LONDON, Conn -- The Mitchell College women's volleyball team picked up a 3-0 victory over Dean College on Tuesday evening at the Yarnall Athletic Center. 

The win was the fourth in the last five matches for the Mariners (4-2), who bounced back from a loss to Suffolk on Saturday during their tri-match with the Rams and SUNY Cobleskill.

Mitchell won Tuesday by scores of 25-13, 25-18, and 25-17. Olivia DeLoach led all players with 10 kills and added a match-high 11 digs. Allison Blum added six kills, Molly Steel-Miller had five kills, and Claire Binfield continued to be an elite table setter, registering a game-high 21 assists to go along with seven digs.

It marks the third time this season that Binfield has totaled over 20 assists in a match. Julia Lent also reached double figures, tallying 10 digs.

Sari Albury and Hope Laiter paced the Bulldogs with five kills each, while Bella Driscoll had a team-high seven assists. Additionally, Emily Larouche and Lena Muraski had five digs each, which led Dean. 

The Mariners capitalized in the first set on early errors by the Bulldogs, turning a two-point advantage into a six-point lead. Mitchell continued to apply pressure, building an 18-8 cushion before Dean scored four times in a row to make it a six-point set. With the score 19-13 in favor of the Mariners, Steel-Miller notched a kill which led to six consecutive Mitchell points to seal the match.

The second set was much closer, as the two squads found the score knotted up 15-15. The Mariners then caught fire, scoring eight of the next 10 points behind kills from Blum, DeLoach, and Sarah Aviles. DeLoach and Aviles would finish out the set with back to back kills for Mitchell, who closed on an 11-3 run. 

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead to begin the third set. A kill by Blum gave the Mariners their first lead at 7-6, and they would not trail again, scoring the final five points of the match to claim victory.

After a four-game home stand, Mitchell will take to the road for their next three games. They will be back in action on Thursday, when they travel to Framingham St. for a 7:00 pm game.