MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University women's volleyball team kicked off its home schedule with a tri-match versus Penn State Harrisburg and Franklin & Marshall College on Saturday in Baldwin Gym.
In the first match of the day, Harrisburg rallied for a 3-2 win before F&M posted a 3-0 victory in the final contest of the afternoon.
The Rangers jumped to a 2-0 lead, winning 25-21 and 26-24, before the Lions ended the match with 25-19, 25-15, and 15-9 victories.
Franklin & Marshall won by scores of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-16 to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Against Harrisburg, three Rangers achieved double-doubles. Senior
Emily Shirk posted a career-high 17 kills and 14 digs to go with three blocks, sophomore
Lindsey Millis notched 15 kills and a career-high 19 digs, and junior
Alyssa Rachwal contributed 41 assists and 15 digs. Senior
Inaya Stanford added 10 kills while sophomores
Aidyn Stone and
Skyler Ribitzki scooped 15 and 10 digs, respectively.
The Rangers opened the first set on a 12-5 run and withstood a PSU rally in which the Lions came back to take the lead. The Lions led 20-19 before Drew ended the set on a 6-2 run, which included a pair of kills from senior
Marissa Guajardo.
The second set was a nip-and-tuck affair in which neither side led by more than four. However, PSU held a commanding 23-19 lead before the Rangers ended the set on a 7-1 surge. The Lions were serving to win the set at 24-22 but Rachwal kept her team alive with a kill, and Ribitzki and Millis followed with one kill each before a Penn State attack error clinched it for Drew.
The Lions rode early leads to win the third and fourth sets. In the deciding game, it was tied 4-4 before Harrisburg used a 3-1 surge to take the lead for good.
Against Franklin & Marshall, Millis paced the Rangers with nine kills while Rachwal distributed 18 assists. Stone added seven digs, and freshman
Jasmine Brewer threw down three blocks.
The Diplomats jumped to a 10-2 lead in the first set and led by at least eight the rest of the way. Franklin & Marshall also led from start to finish in the second set after starting on a 7-3 spurt. The Rangers came back to tie it at 13-13 and trailed just 17-15 before F&M pulled away.
The visitors opened the third set on a 4-1 run before Drew rallied to take the lead with a 4-0 outburst. However, the Dips responded with a 5-0 spurt to take the lead for good.
The Rangers are back in action next Saturday, when they compete in another tri-match at Stevens. Drew takes on Tufts University at 2 p.m. and Stevens at 4 p.m.
