HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Christopher Newport volleyball team picked off one set but Ithaca College pulled away for a 3-1 win against the Captains on Saturday morning at Memorial Gym in Huntingdon, Pa. The Captains wrapped up their appearance at the Juniata Tri-Match with a 25-23, 17-25, 25-17, 25-20 setback to the Bombers and saw their overall record drop to 17-5.
Macy Burk matched her season high with six blocks and
Maddie Carter added 15 kills for the fifth time in the last eight matches as Christopher Newport dropped two straight for the first time this season.
Ithaca jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set before Carter picked up her first two kills. The Captains' closed to within one, 7-6, and then chipped away to erase the lead entirely at 11-all on an error by the Bombers offense. The teams traded blows until another 5-0 burst put the Bombers ahead,19-14. That would be enough to keep the Captains at arms' length the rest of the set and Ithaca won, 25-23.
CNU reversed the script in the second set by weathering an early run and tying the match up at 5-5 on a kill by Burk. The Captains teetered in front, 13-10, with kills by Carter and
Mackenzie Wright sandwiching a pair of Bombers errors. Ithaca would tie the set a few more times but the Captains won the last seven points of the frame to pull away for a 25-17 win. Carter had two more kills while Burk also added another.
In the third set, Ithaca cruised to a 13-6 lead early and never looked back. A small three-point run with kills from
Mackenzie Wright and
Kyla McIntyre pulled the Captains back to within six, 21-15, but that would be as close as CNU would get in the stanza. Ithaca pulled ahead of the match, 2-1, with a 25-17 win.
The fourth set followed in much the same fashion, with Ithaca building a 13-5 lead before another 4-0 run by the Captains. A couple of errors were paired with
Sammy Carroll setting up
Anna Dean for a big swing and an ace by
Julia Gleason. Carroll set up Dean again and then added her own kill moments later as CNU clawed to within two, 14-12. The comeback try was complete when the Captains knotted the set up at 19 points apiece, but Ithaca responded to score six of the last seven points to clinch the match.
Noelle Starr led the defense with 17 digs while
Rebecca Frey added 10 and Carroll just missed a double-double with nine. Carroll's 35 assists led the match, as did Carter's 15 kills.
Christopher Newport returns to action next weekend as they travel to the Randolph-Macon Invitational. CNU will take on the host Yellow Jackets at 3:00 pm on October 22 followed by bouts against Emory and Johns Hopkins on October 23.
