MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat volleyball team wrapped up its regular season with a non-conference tilt against the Warren Wilson College Owls inside McAlister Gymnasium Thursday night. Thanks to a dominant effort from the home side, the Cavaliers improved to 14-10 on the season with a 3-set sweep, winning their fifth consecutive match in the process.
The Cavs stormed out of the gate in the opening frame, capturing the first four points and seven of the initial nine to lead 7-2 early. With the score at 10-5, four kills from
Kamryn Wolf sparked a 9-0 run as Montreat held a perfect sideout percentage late in the set. Ultimately, six kills and three aces from Wolf gave the Cavaliers a 1-0 edge following a 25-9 victory. In the first, Montreat outhit WWC .333 to -.083.
As one-sided as the first frame was, the second ended similarly. Wolf notched three more quick kills, while
Katie Alexander tallied a pair of aces as the Cavs claimed the first five points. Leading 8-1 and 15-7, Montreat continued to apply pressure midway through the second set. A 9-1 stretch fueled by two aces from
Elizabeth Harrington and three Warren Wilson errors expanded the gap to as many as 16 points as the home side pulled within a set of a sweep with a second 25-9 triumph following Montreat's best hitting set of the evening (.478).
Two aces from Wolf and a WWC service error handed the Cavaliers a 3-0 advantage in the third and final set. Though the Owls knotted the score at four, the Cavs utilized a run to grow the gap once more. Montreat, who never trailed in the contest, immediately went on an 8-0 stretch that included kills from four different Cavaliers.
Katie Dickey and Wolf both added a pair of kills to extend the lead to double-digits (15-5) as the home team cruised to a 25-12 win in the last set.
"Our goal coming into this game was to play at our tempo, and that's exactly what we did. This was a good game to end the regular season on, and we're excited to head into the conference tournament next week," noted head coach
Brittany Carpenter.
Overall, Montreat controlled nearly every statistical category. The Cavaliers registered 34 kills to Warren Wilson's mere 16, while outhitting the visitors .368 to -.042. Twelve aces and a 4-point edge in service errors meant a 16-point swing at the service line for the Cavs, who also recorded more digs (32-22) and blocks (4.0-3.0) than their counterparts. In the end, Montreat finished with an 81.3 sideout percentage and won 67.1 of its points on serve.
Individually, Wolf led the team with an unbelievable .824 hitting percentage, notching 14 kills on 17 swings. She added a competition-best six aces. Dickey contributed eight kills, hitting .500 in the process, to go with six digs. Alexander (13) and
Reese Davis (10) both grabbed double-digit assist totals, while
Lexi Wible captained the Cavaliers with 10 digs in addition to her five helpers.
Volleyball now enters the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 9 seed. Play is scheduled to begin next Thursday, Nov. 9, at the MeadowView Marriott in Kingsport, Tenn.
