LOWELL, Mass. -
The Rollins volleyball team used a pair of 3-0 sweeps in the
first day of action at the Bentley Invitational with over Bentley
and Bridgeport, Saturday at Costello Gymnasium.
With the two wins, the Tars improve to 10-1 on the season, the best
start since the 2001 season when they also started, 10-1.
The Tars silenced the Falcons in the first match, 25-14, 25-13,
25-19, before cruising past the Knights, 25-17, 25-23, 25-15 in the
second.
On the day, freshman Mikayla Pierce led a
potent Tars offense with 22 kills. In Pierce's last three matches
she's amassed 42 kills averaging 3.82 per set. A native of Fresno,
Calif., Pierce collected 18 digs in both matches and registered her
third double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs against
Bridgeport.
Senior outside hitter Nikki Hartman trailed Pierce with 18 kills in
the two matches posting identical numbers to Pierce in the Purple
Knight contest with 10 kills and 10 digs. The Sunshine State
Conference leader in kills, Hartman increased her season total to
149, nearly four kills per set.
Fellow SSC leader, freshman setter Kiana Parks tallied
similar numbers to her season total with 65 assists (10.8 per
set). Parks continued to control the pace of the Rollins offense
with a .425 assist percentage against Bentley and a .415 assist
percentage against Bridgeport.
Defensively, the Tars were sound in both matches as middle blockers
Jenny Sherwood and Natalie
denied the Falcons and Knights any hope of an offensive attack.
Entering into the weekend, Branche was the SSC leader in blocks per
set and added to her impressive numbers with 10 blocks in six sets.
The Washington, D.C., native increased her conference-leading mark
to 1.28 on the season. Sherwood raised her mark to.88 per set, 30
on the season. Rollins welcomed another blocker to the already
stellar defensive line in Caitlin Vyborny. The
Machesney Park, Ill., native collected 10 of her 24 blocks,
Saturday.
Against the Falcons, Rollins displayed an outstanding performance
on both offense and defense. With a .319 attacking percentage, the
Tars controlled the pursuit of Bentley holding them to .098 on
their attack.
Despite having one attacker with double-digits with Kills (Pierce
12) against Bentley, Rollins moved the ball around evenly as six
hitters were in on the action. Defensively, Pierce brought in the
team-high eight digs, while Hartman was one shy with seven.
Sophomore libero Karin Barborikova, filling
in for the absent Phoebe Corder, collected
five digs to round out the Tars defensively.
It was much of the same against the Purple Knights as Rollins
out-hit Bridgeport, .344-.119. When the Tars out-hit their
opponents they are 10-0 this season. Rollins registered nine
blocks in the sweep and limited the Knights to a team-best six
kills from their outside hitter Agatha Baliddawa.
Rollins continues action at the Bentley Invitational, Sunday, Sept.
13 at 10 a.m. when they compete against Georgian Court before
concluding the invitational against New Haven at 1 p.m.
