NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Southern Connecticut State volleyball swept Caldwell, 3-0, in a non-conference matchup at Pelz Gymnasium. The Owls won 25-19, 25-8, 25-20 to improve to 9-3 overall while Caldwell dropped to 2-8 overall.
Kerrigan Habing led Southern with 12 kills on .375 hitting and completed a double-double with 11 digs. The senior outside hitter added an ace and two assists while handling a perfect night in serve receive. Kimi Mitchell orchestrated a balanced attack with 32 assists, five kills on 11 attempts with no errors for a .455 clip, six digs and an ace. Jasmine Johnson provided a spark from the service line with four aces in just two sets played. Jaiden Binning was efficient in the middle with five kills on nine swings for a .556 hitting percentage and added two blocks, including one solo. Sydney Bennett matched her with five kills on 10 attempts to hit .400.
Southern hit .318 as a team with 48 kills on 110 attempts and 13 errors, while holding Caldwell to -.011 with 14 kills and 15 errors in 95 attempts. The Owls outscored the Cougars 57.0-19.0 in total points and led in kills 48-14, aces 7-3, assists 48-13 and digs 60-39.
The Owls never trailed after taking control midway through the opening set. Caldwell led early behind kills from Andrea Enabosi and Meredith Gatz, but Southern answered with three straight kills from Bennett and a 6-0 run late sparked by Camilla Fernandez from the service line. A kill by Katie Bardak off a Mitchell set pushed the lead to 23-18, and Habing closed the set with back-to-back kills for a 25-19 win. Southern hit .298 in the frame while Caldwell managed .093.
Set two was all Owls. After dropping the first two points on a service ace and a kill by Enabosi, Southern reeled off 10 of the next 11 points. Habing notched a kill and an ace during the surge, and Bennett added another kill. Fernandez served six straight points to stretch the lead to 19-6, with kills from Binning, Marisabelle Sias and Sarah Stark. Southern closed the set 25-8, hitting .500 with 15 kills and only one error in 28 attempts. Caldwell hit -.103 with just two kills.
Caldwell showed fight in the third. The Cougars used a block by Sarah Ojo and Kaybri Lowry and a kill from Si'ena King to take an early 2-1 lead, then rode strong serving from King to tie the match at 12-12 after trailing 12-8. King served four straight points to even the set.
Southern responded behind Fernandez and Mitchell. A kill by Aleciyah Brodley from Fernandez gave SCSU a 13-12 lead it would not relinquish. Sophia Guzman and Habing added consecutive kills, and Mitchell sealed it with an ace and a final kill by Brodley from Fernandez for 25-20.
Southern is back in action on Friday, Sept. 25 when it hosts Adelphi for its first Northeast 10 Conference match up of the season at 5 p.m. at Pelz Gym.
