By Claire Mattox
Elm Staff Writer
The volleyball team returns with a promising roster this season including All Conference Honorable Mention junior hitter Jenny Lee, captains Alyssa Forget and Lauren White, and five freshmen that will all bring impressive talent to the team.
The Shorewomen opened up their season at the Battlefield Classic Tournament. They split their season opener, losing in a close match against Bridgewater, then sweeping Pitt-Bradford in a decisive win. Freshman Lauren Bell emerged strong with a match best 22 kills, while Lauren White had 6 kills, 41 assists and 9 digs. Junior defensive specialist Kaitlin Rowan had 10 digs.
The team stayed strong in their next two games of the tournament against Mount Saint Vincent and Penn State-Mont Alto. They beat Mount Saint Vincent (3-1); Jenny Lee picked up her 500th career kill during the first set and Lauren White had the final kill of the match to stop Mt. St. Vincent’s final run. The squad swept Penn State- Mont Alto in efficient manner and as the weekend came to a close, Jenny Lee was named to the All Tournament Team.
In their fourth consecutive win, Lee had another solid game with 12 kills and five serve aces in rout to a sweep of Arcadia. In addition, Lauren white had 27 assists and 4 kills while Senior Emily Hudson had 6 kills and 4 aces. Freshman defensive specialist Katie Liccione led all Shorewomen with 8 digs.
The Shorewomen won their next two matches against Wesley and Delaware Valley to have the team’s second-best start since 1978. It’s the first six-match winning streak since the team won seven in a row in 1988. In the match against Wesley, Lee had a career-high nine service aces, while White had 24 assists to lead both the Shorewomen and the Wolverines.
In an extremely close match against Shenandoah, the Shorewomen were edged out 2-3 in sets as the Hornets ended their winning streak. However, they came back strong in a match against Mount Aloysius, beating the Mounties 3-0 in sets. Freshman Katie Liccione had a match-high 11 digs as the Shorewomen took the win.
Come out to support the team in their home opener Saturday Sept. 17 against Johns Hopkins at 11:00 a.m. and Scranton at 3:00 p.m.