NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Taking on the first day of competition against the vaunted field of the Captains Classic, 19th-ranked Christopher Newport volleyball split a pair of matches against nationally-ranked opponents with a 3-1 win over No. 25 NYU before dropping a 3-0 decision to No. 12 Juniata. The Captains defeated NYU by a final score of 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20 and fell to the Eagles in a hard-fought 25-23, 25-17, 25-22 effort.
The Captains are now 2-1 to start the season and will wrap up the Captains Classic against No. 7 Wisconsin - Eau Claire on Saturday. The schedule continues with Juniata facing NYU at 11:30 a.m. followed by the aforementioned final match of the weekend for CNU at approximately 2:00 p.m.. The tournament will then close with Juniata taking on Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 4:30 p.m.
Junior outside
Avery Hanly and senior
Alli Pratt led the way for the Captains in Friday's action with 30 kills combined. After tying her career-high with 11 kills against Regent on Tuesday, Pratt pieced together a record-breaking 13 in the early match against nationally-ranked NYU. She hit a team-best .345 before adding five kills in the second match against Juniata. Hanly recorded 10 kills against the Violets and notched two more on ten swings against the Eagles.
The Captains were tested throughout the day on Friday with NYU keeping the match within striking distance for the majority of the bout. CNU won the first set without and NYU rebounded with the second after neither team led by more than three points over the first two sets. The back-and-forth affair saw CNU clinch the first set on an attack error after sophomore
Emmy Carpenedo set up match point with a blazing kill off a feed from
Maddie Hanes. In the second, CNU scored back-to-back points facing match point to pull back within one but a ball into the net evened the score up at one set apiece.
Christopher Newport took control early in the second set, blazing out to a 7-0 lead with Hanes at the line. She notched one ace while Pratt, Hanly, and sophomore setter
Fielding Croft each added kills in the spurt. After NYU slowed the run for a mome, Hanly and Pratt extended the lead back to seven, 11-4. With the lead in hand, the Captains were able to keep the Violets at bay for the majority of the set but NYU closed to within one, 20-19, and forced another late surge by the Captains. Croft set up Pratt and Carpenedo on back-to-back rallies and an NYU error put CNU in position for the win. Still, the Violets responded and tied the match up at 23-all before Pratt finished off the set with a kill and won it at the line for CNU.
CNU clinched the match in the fourth with a wire-to-wire win, 25-20. CNU led by as many as seven again, 18-11, before putting away the visitors on the tenth and final kill of the match for Hanly. Croft set up the clincher, earning her 36th assist of the match. It marks her fifth career 30-assist performance against nationally-ranked competition.
In the nightcap, the Captains battled against Juniata and dropped a pair of sets by a combined five points in the setback. Powered by a thrilling opening weekend crowd, Christopher Newport came out firing in the first set and built an eight-point lead, 16-8. Rookie
Jasmine Williams and senior
Simara Alexander each had kills in the run along with Hanly's first of the second match. Juniata responded with eight of the next nine points to even the match back up at 17, and carried that momentum to a first-set victory, 25-23. Alexander added two more kills late in the set to try and stave off the setback, but Juniata closed out the win with kills by Ava Gummer and Molly Mishinkash.
Williams started the second set with another kill and CNU took another early lead, 9-5, when
Sylvia Wargolet split the defense with a beautiful ace . It was another big run for the Eagles from there, however, as the visitors pulled ahead, 21-15, with at 16-6 run. Carpenedo notched a pair of kills and Williams tacked on another, but Juniata took a 2-0 lead in the match.
CNU and Juniata went back-and-forth in the third with neither team leading by more than one point until it was 16-16. The Eagles connected on five straight to create a little distance, but the Captains again responded with four of the next six to make it 22-20. After a timeout, Juniata set up match point with the next two and despite a valiant return with two more points for CNU, the Eagles clinched the finish with a kill by Claudia Meditz to win, 25-22.
Alexander led the offense with six kills on seven swings for a .714 attack percentage while Williams notched seven kills for a team-high against the Eagles.
Christopher Newport will look to bounce back on Saturday against another top-25 opponent when they face No. 7 Wisconsin-Eau Claire to round out the tournament action.
