Ten service aces on Tuesday night led Stevenson Women’s Volleyball (10-3, 2-0 MAC) to a 3-1 victory over Messiah University (9-5, 1-1 MAC) in Grantham, Pennsylvania.
After dropping the first set 19-25, the Mustangs won the next three, 25-14, 25-21, and 25-18.
A strong second-set performance, including three aces and an astounding .440 hitting percentage, set the tone for the remaining sets as the Mustangs would not trail by more than one point throughout the rest of the match.
Strong serving kept Messiah from getting into any kind of rhythm. Ten aces and only 5 service errors kept up a constant pressure that Messiah could not break. On the defensive end, Stevenson only had two reception errors, allowing them to set up a consistent, in-system offense.
Beneficiaries of the stellar passing included sophomore outside hitter Kylie Deslauriers (12 kills) and senior outside hitter Rileigh Kimball (9 kills).
“The passing and serving in the first set weren’t up to par with Messiah’s,” Deslauriers said. “But we decided to pick it up and served harder, and passed better, which allowed us to put the ball down.”
As has been the pattern all season, the Mustangs got another strong performance from both of their middle hitters. Middle hitter Haley Hoover, a graduate student, finished the match with 5 kills, a .400 hitting percentage and 4 blocks. Senior middle hitter Darian Dildy finished the match with 8 kills, a .333 hitting percentage and 6 blocks.
“Being able to have the middles as an option and knowing that they’re going to put the ball down is a huge advantage for our team,” sophomore setter Sam Simmers said. “It is one of the reasons that we have been successful so far this season.”
The Mustangs look to add to their win streak with a tri-match against Penn State Berks and Penn State Altoona at the Owings Mills Gymnasium on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. The games can be streamed here on GoMustangSports.tv.
