Vassar Drops Liberty League Match to William Smith

By Steven Merritt

GENEVA – The Vassar College Women’s Volleyball team dropped its third straight contest on Saturday afternoon as the Brewers dropped a 17-25, 17-25, 22-25 road decision to William Smith. Junior Maya Levine had a game-high 12 digs as Vassar falls to 1-11 and 1-3 in Liberty League action.

Sophomore Morgan Miller opened up the first set with a kill to give Vassar an early lead.

The Brewers extended its lead to 9-6 following back to back kills from Miller and freshman Molly Delahunty. Following another Delahunty kill that gave Vassar a 12-9 lead, William Smith scored nine straight points to take a 12-18 lead in the first set. A kill from Miller and a service ace from sophomore Hailey Hayes cut the Herons lead to four but William Smith tallied six of the next points in the set to take a 17-25 set one victory.

The Herons jumped out to a 1-6 advantage in the second set as Malya Sayre led the way with two kills. A kill from Hayes ended the early run but the Herons pushed its lead to 3-10 and forced a Brewers timeout. Back to back kills from Delahunty and Hayes cut the Herons lead to 8-14 until William Smith scored five straight points, including two kills by Elizaveta Telepova. After the Herons pushed its lead to 9-21, Vassar scored five straight points as sophomore Julia Hale buried a kill and also tallied a block assist. William Smith scored three of the next six points to take the second set 17-25.

Vassar got out to an early 4-1 lead in the third set as Delahunty tallied two service aces in the early rally. The Herons tied the set up at four but a kill from Hayes and a service ace from freshman Rebecca Gutierrez pushed its lead back to two. A double block from William Smith stopped the run for the Brewers but Vassar recorded three straight points on an ace from Hayes and a kill from Miller to force a Herons timeout.

After a kill from William Smith’s Elaina Wamhoff cut Vassar’s lead to 13-11, Gutierrez buried a kill followed by a block assist with Hayes to push the Brewers lead up to four. A service ace from the Herons’ Cydney Fernandez tied the set up at 17 apiece and William Smith took its first lead of the set on a consecutive kills from Sayre and Wamhoff. Vassar’s Molly Ardren tied the match back up at 19 but the Herons tallied the final three points of the match to take the final set 22-25.

Miller tallied a team-high nine kills and added six digs. Delahunty and Hayes each tallied six kills while Hayes had three service aces and Delahunty added two aces. Freshman Melia Voss handed out 15 assists for the Brewers and Hayes led the team in block assists with two while also adding 10 digs.

Telepova picked up a game-high 13 kills for the Herons and added four blocks. Hope Von Dohlen had 11 kills while Wamhoff had seven kills, 29 assists and two service aces. Sayre had a team-high 11 digs while Jaylynn McCarthy had a game-high five blocks for William Smith.