NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Headlining a slew of standout performances, Abby Oren came through with her second double-digit kill outing in less than 24 hours as the sophomore helped lead the 23rd-ranked Christopher Newport volleyball team past Averett, 3-0 (25-21, 25-8, 25-15), to close out the CNU Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the Freeman Center.
 
Against the Cougars, Oren blasted 10 kills on just 15 swings. She also contributed on the defensive end with four blocks to help stymie the Averett attack. Meanwhile, Katie Piper unleashed a team-high 11 kills, while Riley Garrison assisted on eight of the squad's 12 rejections.
 
Celebrating Senior Day, the squad's fourth-year standouts also made significant contributions during the match. Josie Lucernoni pocketed a team-high 17 digs, while Cat Boyle joined her on the back row with six digs and a flawless 10-for-10 effort on serve-receive. Up front, Kellyn DeChirico hammered six kills and added three blocks during a well-rounded effort.
 
Prior to the match, Boyle, DeChirico, Lucernoni, and team manager Forrest Mann were all celebrated for their impact on the program.
 
Along with Saturday's star performers, Megan O'Hara and Katie Crofford earned All-Tournament honors for their work during the two-day CNU Invitational. O'Hara finished with a team-best .365 hitting percentage to go along with 12 blocks during the squad's three matches. Meanwhile, Crofford unloaded 22 kills, pocketed 31 digs, and smacked six aces.
 
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 22-5 on the season. The setback drops Averett to 15-14.
 
Making her first start of the season, Boyle rewarded the Captains with an early showcase. The senior quickly converted her first two reception attempts and also made a diving dig in the middle of the defense to keep a rally alive on the way to a 3-3 tie. Later, Garrison and O'Hara built an airtight seal along the near pin with back-to-back blocks to snatch an 8-4 lead heading into an Averett timeout.
 
Although the Cougars retaliated, CNU shot right back with an outstanding run in the middle of the set. In the span of nine rallies, the Captains flipped a 13-12 deficit into a 20-14 lead. During the assault, DeChirico smashed a dart right through the arms of a defender, while Piper painted the back corner with a kill. Capping off the surge, Crofford smacked two straight aces as she unleashed a looping rainbow that drew the libero into the net before unloading a screaming bullet that tattooed a different back-row defender.
 
With more than enough cushion, Oren laced a kill off the back line before tooling the block along the far pin to ice the 25-21 triumph.
 
In the second stanza, Christopher Newport kept the momentum and stormed out to a 10-4 lead. Piper tormented the Cougars early on as she blistered a back-row defender with a kill before hitting the same player with an ace on the next rally. Later, the junior headlined the squad's mid-set surge as well. During a seven-point run, she landed a tip, punished an overpass, and teamed with DeChirico on a block to secure an 18-6 lead.
 
Looking to close things out quickly, O'Hara connected on two late kills before Oren torched another Averett block attempt to earn set-point at 24-8. Wasting little time, Garrison came back on the very next rally and capitalized on a perfect set by Hope Webb to close things out with a dagger to the back corner for a 25-8 victory.
 
In the third set, the two teams battled to a 5-5 draw before CNU found its groove. Piper went straight down the sideline with a kill before O'Hara came through with an acrobatic rally. The sophomore saved an errant pass from sailing out-of-bounds with a hustle play along the near pin. Looking to capitalize with the Captains out of position, the Cougars went with a quick attack, but O'Hara elevated along the net and stoned the shot with a backbreaking block to grab a 9-5 edge.
 
Continuing the outstanding defensive work, Garrison took a tour along the front row, traveling from pin to pin while frustrating Averett with an endless string of blocks. In the span of six rallies, she teamed up with Piper to close off the far pin, joined forces with Oren to wipe away an attack on the near side, and walled off the center of the net with another rejection to thwart the AU assault.
 
With a little more work to do, Garrison came back with another stop on the far side to steal an 18-9 lead. Meanwhile, on the offensive end, Piper pieced together a physics-defying kill late in the match. While off-balance along the far sideline, the junior cut a hard-angled shot just inside the pin that caught a pair of Cougars. Although the defenders were able to push the ball back at her, she expertly avoided the return shot while standing out of bounds to earn the hard-fought kill.
 
Although Averett clawed back to within six late in the contest, the seniors put a fitting punctuation mark on the match. Boyle and Lucernoni kept late rallies alive with digs, while DeChirico landed a pair of kills, including the penultimate strike, to cap off the 25-15 triumph.
 
Ashley Burgess finished the contest with 21 assists and seven digs, while Webb added 16 helpers and stung two aces. Crofford and Piper both punched a pair of winners as well.
 
Along with Crofford and O'Hara, five other players earned All-Tournament honors for their efforts at the CNU Invitational. Berry's Carson VanCampen was named the MVP, while fellow Vikings Laura Beier and Hannah Billiard joined her on the All-Tournament team. Rounding out the honorees, Averett's McKenzie Miller and Virginia Wesleyan's Doneisha Hall were celebrated for their work as well.
 
Christopher Newport will return to action on Tuesday when the squad hosts Penn St. Harrisburg in the first round of the CAC Tournament at 7 p.m.
 
---CNU---