NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Southern Connecticut State University volleyball won its fourth-straight match with a sweep of D'Youville at Pelz Gym. The Owls defeated the Saints 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 at to improve to 11-3 overall and 8-2 at home. D'Youville fell to 7-8.
Marisabelle Sias led Southern with nine kills on 13 swings with one error for a .615 hitting percentage and added a block assist. Sydney Bennett hit .500 with eight kills on 16 attempts and no errors and led the match with six block assists. Katie Bardak added eight kills at .412 with five block assists. Kimi Mitchell directed the offense with 33 assists, three kills at .273, two block assists and a solo block. She helped SCSU assist on 40 of 41 kills.
Libero Sarah Henault controlled the back row with a match-high 15 digs and three aces. Kerrigan Habing added nine digs, six kills and an ace and a solo block. Victoria Pascual had seven digs and an ace, while Sarah Stark chipped in four kills and four total blocks.
Southern hit .287 with 41 kills against just 10 errors and dominated at the net and service line, finishing with a 13-1 advantage in blocks and 7-1 in aces. D'Youville hit .046 with 28 kills and 23 errors in front of 65 fans.
Southern never trailed late in any set. In the opener, Henault served a 5-0 run that included two aces to push a 2-2 tie to 7-2, and the Owls closed on a Sias kill from Henault to take it 25-19. SCSU hit .242 in the first while holding D'Youville to .079.
The second set was the cleanest. Southern hit .324 with 13 kills and two errors and blocked three attacks. Leading 7-7, Mitchell found Bennett and Bardak for back-to-back kills to spark a 4-0 run. The Owls extended it with another surge from Mitchell serving, and Bennett closed it 25-17 with her fifth kill of the match from Mitchell.
In the third, Southern trailed early at 4-1 before Henault served four straight points, again with an ace, to give the Owls the lead for good. Charly Williams came off the bench to deliver two late aces in a 3-0 spurt that made it 19-14, and SCSU finished it when D'Youville's Cameron Ulinski hit long. Southern hit .293 in the third with 15 kills.
The sweep was Southern's fourth in a row during a stretch in which it has won eight of 10 at Pelz. Southern's depth showed again. Eleven Owls recorded a kill, including bench contributions from Jaiden Binning, Mianna Brown, Sophia Guzman and Williams, who had two aces in one set.
The Owls are back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 29 when they face American International in Springfield, Mass. The Owls return home on Friday, Oct. 2 to host Saint Anselm.
