LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis women's volleyball team got its first home win of the young season Saturday night when it defeated Iona in three sets at DeGol Arena. The Flash won 25-19, 25-22 and 25-19.
SFU hit .279 in the match to Iona's .147. The Red Flash also hit better than .300 in the second and third sets.
Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) led the way with a .381 hitting percentage with nine kills.
Sophie Murdock (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion ) (seven kills) and
Christa White (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport) (five kills) each hit .333.
Emily Marcinowski (Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) led the Red Flash with 10 kills, while Roush had 18 digs and
Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) had 13 digs.
It was a well-rounded and balanced attack for the Red Flash that started in the first set. It was the lone set in which SFU didn't hit .300, but its .220 mark still far surpassed the .028 hitting percentage for Iona in the opening frame. The set was tied at 13, but a 6-1 Red Flash run fueled by two kills each from Roush and Murdock gave the Flash a comfortable advantage.
SFU trailed in the second set, 16-15, but two kills from
Lauren Williams (Reno, Nev./Damonte Ranch) and an ace from
Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) shot the Flash into a 19-16 lead. Opera finished with eight kills to go along with the ace. She scored the set-winning point in the second to halt an Iona spurt that had the game at 24-22.
Iona took 15-14 lead in the third set as it looked to extend the match, but the Flash responded with six straight points and eight of nine to wrest control from the Gaels. Murdock had two kills and Roush had an ace in that span, and Marcinowski had five of her 10 kills in the third set.
Williams finished with 20 assists while
Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) had 11 assists.
In the first match of the day, Navy swept the Flash in three sets. Opera led the offense with 10 kills while Veres had 21 digs. Veres was named to the Red Flash Classic All-Tournament Team.
SFU opens NEC play next weekend with a home match against Bryant on Saturday at 2 p.m.
