Volleyball Closes Out UIC Invitational With 3-0 Win Over Morgan State
Blue Devils improve to 5-1 on the season with victory.
The Central Connecticut volleyball team defeated Morgan State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-14) on Saturday to finish play at the UIC Invitational. The Blue Devils (5-1) used a balanced attack and strong defense to shutout the Bears.
Central raced out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set and led 24-20 late in the set before Morgan State rallied to get within a point. Following a Blue Devils timeout, freshman Raquel Quirarte, who was named to the all-tournament team, got a kill to win the set for CCSU.
CCSU broke a 7-7 deadlock in the second set with four straight points to take the lead for good. An 8-3 run ended the set as the Blue Devils won 25-16.
The Blue Devils scored the first three points of the final set and never trailed. A run of six unanswered points midway through the set helped Central ease to a 25-14 win in the set to claim the match.
Quirarte and junior Erika Jones led the CCSU attack with 10 and 9 kills, respectively. Jones collected a team-best .444 hitting percentage as the Blue Devils hit .202 as a team, including a .350 mark in the final set.
Senior Makenna Lommori finished with 27 assists, to go with eight digs and two block assists. Junior Rachel Fish had a team-high 15 digs and added four service aces. CCSU had 11 aces as a team.
The Blue Devils held the Bears' attack to a .000 hitting percentage and sophomore Maddie Smith had four block assists. Quirarte added two solo blocks and two block assists.
Keana Browne led the Bears with seven kills.
Central returns to action at the Jack Kaiser Volleyball Classic on Friday and Saturday, September 11 and 12. CCSU will play four matches at the event hosted by St. John's University, including an opening match with Cornell on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
UIC Invitational All-Tournament Team
MVP - Alyssa Ehrhardt - UIC
Stephenee Yancy - UIC
Rachel Quirarte - CCSU
Keana Brown - MSU
Shontane Addison - CSU
