NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport Volleyball rolled to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-12) Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) win over the visiting St. Mary's College (Md.) Seahawks on Wednesday night. With their 13th consecutive win, CNU advances to 16-6 overall, 4-0 in the CAC while the Seahawks all to 5-14, 0-4.
The first set was tightly contested throughout with neither team leading by more than three points through the first 37 points. With the Captains trailing 16-14, the Captains rallied with five straight and seven of eight points to jump ahead 21-17. The Seahawks battled back to within two at 22-20, but kills from Megan O'Hara and Katie Crofford along with a Seahawks service error would end the set.
The Captains wasted no time pulling away in the second set. Down 2-1, they scored the next seven and seven of eight to jump ahead 9-3. Still ahead by six at 13-7, the Captains crushed any hopes of a comeback by picking up nine of the next 11 to go ahead by 13, 22-9. The Captains finished off the set with a Riley Garrison kill for set point.
The third set was much the same as the second with the Captains asserting their dominance from the outset. CNU scored the last four points of the match, finishing it off with back to back Hope Webb service aces for match point.
Katie Crofford racked up 13 points on a .526 hitting percentage, eight digs, a block, and an ace. Sammy Carroll handed out 35 assists to go with two aces, four digs, and a block. Katie Piper contributed eight kills, four digs, and two aces. Megan O'Hara and Maddie Carter each tallied seven kills. O'Hara added a block and a dig while Carter hit .750. Riley Garrison tacked on six kills and two blocks. Rebecca Frey paced the team in digs (10) and aces (3).
CNU posted a .381 hitting percentage, including a .462 mark in the second and .522 in the third, racking up only three errors combined in the last two sets after committing nine in the first. After posting a .240 hitting percentage in the first frame, the Seahawks would go on to hit -.047 over the final two to finish the match at .059. The Captains recorded 11 aces to the Seahawks one.
The Captains will look to stay atop the CAC standings when they travel up the Eastern Shore to Salisbury, Md. to compete against the SeaGulls of Salisbury University at 11 a.m. on Saturday followed by a 1 p.m. non-conference tilt against Stockton University.
