CNU Volleyball Sweeps Saturday Games, Extends Win Streak to Seven

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Christopher Newport Volleyball finished off two 3-1 wins in Salisbury, Maryland on Saturday. The Captains topped Salisbury and Swarthmore to extend their winning streak to seven matches in-a-row.

Christopher Newport 3, Salisbury 1 | (24-26, 25-20, 25-17, 25-19)

First Set

Anna Dean continued to be dangerous with her serves as she started the match with two service aces. Despite that, neither the Captains or Sea Gulls were able to put together any scoring runs. The largest lead of the set was five points - a 23-18 lead for CNU. Unfortunately for the Captains, attack errors led to their lead evaporating. CNU made 10 attacking errors in the set, allowing Salisbury to make a comeback and take the first set.

Second Set

The Captains attack looked unstoppable in the second set. Up against a Sea Gull team that ranked fifth in the nation in blocks per set, Salisbury didn't register a block while Christopher Newport hit .318 in the second set. Maddie Carter led the attack with four kills, followed by Macy Burk with three. Still, the Captains needed a late surge to secure the set victory. With the score tied at 19, Macy Burk drove home her first kill of the set to give the serve back to CNU and Anna Dean. After a Maddie Carter kill and an attacking error by Salisbury, Dean delivered another service ace to put CNU up 23-19. Burk's second and third kills earned the set win for CNU.

Third Set

Once again, it was Maddie Carter leading an impressive CNU attack. The senior totaled six kills on eight attacks with no errors. Kyla McIntyre added four more kills as the Captains poured it on in the third set. After CNU took the lead at 4-3, they never trailed again and quickly opened up a seven point advantage. Back-to-back kills from Maddie Carter wrapped up a set win for Christopher Newport, putting them ahead 2-1 in the match.

Fourth Set

Seven straight CNU points quickly set the tone for the fourth set. The Captains never lost that lead as Carter turned in five kills and Mackenzie Wright added three of her own. Wright's three kills made up three of those first seven points for CNU. Those seven straight were the difference in this set. After CNU led 15-9, the two sides split the next 20 points 10-10, with Maddie Carter driving home the match's final kill to give CNU the 25-19 win.

Christopher Newport 3, Swarthmore 1 | (20-25, 25-7, 25-16, 25-14)

First Set

Attacking errors caused problems for CNU early in this match. In all, 10 errors often stalled an otherwise productive attack that totaled 15 kills. Swarthmore's attack was cleaner, only committing four errors, which helped them keep pace with CNU. In the end, the errors proved too much for the Captains to overcome as Swarthmore took the first set

Second Set

The second set looked completely different than the first from both sides. A CNU attack error tied the score at six, but that was the closest Swarthmore could get in this set. The Captains rolled off 17 straight points with a relentless attack. Maddie Carter registered seven kills and Mackenzie Wright drove home four more. Perhaps more importantly, CNU only committed two errors in the second set and hit an impressive .423. Swarthmore managed to get one more point on the board before Wright hit the final kill for a big CNU win.

Third Set

Much like the second set, the Captains dominated throughout. CNU hit .441 with 17 kills and just two errors. Anna Dean matched Carter with each registering four kills while Kyla McIntyre and Wright each had three. The Captains started on a 10-4 run and continued building their lead up to 12. Carter sent the final kill down in a 25-16 set win for CNU.

Fourth Set

Things started to fall apart for Swarthmore in the fourth set, and Christopher Newport took advantage of it. The Captains aced six serves, four from Noelle Starr and two from Macy Burk. Additionally, Swarthmore's 10 attacking errors were a big part of a set that CNU won by 11. When Starr took the serve with a 10-6, her four service aces helped start a 14-6 run that led the Captains to victory. Olivia Smalls nailed the final kill and point of the match.

News & Notes

Sammy Carroll posted matches of 49 and 43 assists today. She now boasts seven matches with 40 or more assists this season
The Captains continued to impress in their serves with 20 aces between two matches. Anna Dean now has 31 aces this season. Macy Burk also posted five aces in the win over Swarthmore, with Starr and Carroll each totaling four in the same match.
Noelle Starr did not commit a reception error in the win over Salisbury, her seventh such match this season.
The win over Salisbury is the Captains' first match and win over a Coast-to-Coast conference opponent since the conference rebranded in 2020.