LOWELL, Mass. -
The Rollins volleyball team is off to their best start in the Sindee
Snow era as the Tars defeated Georgian Court, 3-0 (25-23,
25-18, 25-22) Sunday morning at the Bentley Invitational.
Rollins improves to 11-1 for the first time since 1989 when the
Tars opened their campaign, 22-1. During Snow's reign, the
previous best start was 10-2 set in 2001. The Lions of Georgian
Court fall to 3-5.
The Tars, undefeated at the Bentley Invitational, hit .327 as a
team with freshman middle blocker Jill Lau leading the way with a
.692 performance. She registered nine kills out of 13 total
attacks without reporting an error.
Both outside hitters for Rollins hit higher than the team mark as
freshman Mikayla Pierce
collected 11 kills in a .375 attacking effort. Senior Nikki
Hartman's match-high 13 kills was complimented by her hitting
percentage of .333.
Hartman was the match's lone player to record a double-double as
she added 10 digs. She increased her season kill mark to 162 (3.95
per set) and also leads the team in digs with 129.
Libero Karin Barborikova snagged 13
digs as she replaced Phoebe Corder who did not
make the trip due to an illness. During the weekend, Barborikova
leads the team with 28 digs, 3.11 per set.
Freshman setter Kiana Parks had 34
assists, a match-high and also chipped in with a career high, three
blocks, two of them solo efforts.
Rollins trailed by as many as five in the first frame, but captured
the lead midway through the set and never looked back. With a .421
attacking percentage in the first frame, the Tars cruised en route
to the 25-23 victory.
It was the Tars defense that came up huge in the remaining two sets
as the Lions digressed with their attacking efforts. In the second
set, Georgian Court hit .152 before hitting a match-low .054 in the
final frame.
Janelle Murdock led the Lion's offense with 11 kills, while libero
Ana Cruz tallied the team-high 12 digs.
Rollins wraps up play at the Bentley Invitational at 1 p.m. against
New Haven.
