SCRANTON, Pa. – Kicking off the 2014 season, the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's volleyball team split a pair of matches at the 2014 Scranton Invitational. The Leopards defeated Keystone, 3-1, in their first match of the day before dropping a 3-0 decision to Pitt-Bradford in the nightcap.
Senior Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) achieved a pair of milestones in the win over Keystone as, with her 16 digs she not only became the program's all-time dig leader but also because the first player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-dig mark for her career. She now has 1,020 career digs, breaking the previous mark of 994 which was set by Jenn Kelemen '09.
Against Keystone, Wentworth took a 28-26 win in the opening set after battling back from a 21-14 deficit. The Leopards forced a tie at 23-all which would lead the way for ties at each of the next three points. With the set tied at 26-all, freshmen Sydney Meyers (Arnold, Md.) and Katelyn Carlson (Stratford, Conn.) notched back-to-back kills to take the set.
The second set saw Wentworth hit a match-low .081, however The Leopards would take a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 triumph. In the third set, the Black & Gold hit a match-high .522 but, after 10 ties and seven lead changes, Keystone kept the match alive with a 25-23 win.
Wentworth made just one attack error in the fourth set and closed out the match with a 25-15 victory.
Junior Hannah Bailey (Plymouth, Mass.) paced the offense with 11 kills and an attack percentage of .409. Meyers recorded a double-double in her collegiate debut with 10 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Jordan Young (Derry, N.H.) chipped in with nine kills while classmate Stephanie Nihan (Dracut, Mass.) had seven kills and three blocks.
Sophomore Amanda Hunton (Monroe, N.Y.) had four aces and senior Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) had 33 assists and went over the 1,500 career assist mark.
Friday's play concluded with a 3-0 loss to Pitt.-Bradford. As a team the Leopards hit just .078, which included 15 attack errors. The Leopards dropped the first set by a 25-21 margin before hitting a match-high .160 in a 25-22 second set loss. The Panthers closed out the match with a 25-12 win in the third set.
Nihan paced the offense as she recorded seven kills and hit .500 while adding a pair of blocks. Sophomore Sheena Dignean (Constantia, N.Y.), who had seven kills in the win over Keystone, had five kills and two blocks in a losing effort. Curran and Bailey and 17 and 10 digs, respectively, while Ponce had 11 assists.
Wentworth will play Bard on Saturday morning at 11:30. The result of that match, coupled with the result of the Keystone/Pitt.-Bradford match will determine the Leopards' place in pool play and what time their second match of the day will be.
Keystone
Pitt.-Bradford