Volleyball Snaps Losing Streak with a Sweep

Central Connecticut volleyball snapped its five game losing streak with a sweep over the Merrimack Warriors on Friday. Emma Henderson recorded her ninth double-double of the season in the win.

MATCH INFORMATION

FINAL SCORE CCSU 3 Merrimack 0

RECORDS CCSU (9-16,6-7 NEC)

LOCATION Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 8-4 lead over the Warriors thanks in large part to some impressive play from Isabelle Roufs. The opposite hitter wound up and let loose in the first, firing off three straight hard hit balls that resulted in kills.
• Senior Samantha McCreath made an immediate impact in the first, going on five-point serving run (one point coming from an ace) and setting up a nine point lead for CCSU.
• The Blue Devils chipped away to set point and a kill from Henderson gave the Blue Devils the set by a 15 point margin.
• After giving up the first point in the second, Nyjha Marcelin (2) and Nicole Kraemer (1) tacked on kills to calm the nerves and give CCSU the lead back. The Warriors did not stop there, however, and rattled off six straight points to go up 8-5.
• CCSU came back with its own six point swing, three of which came from Roufs. Three straight missiles from Henderson gave CCSU a bit more comfortable of a lead of six.
• The Warriors came within four at one point, but Henderson was able to ice out the second with another clutch kill at set point.
• Eline van Heijningen had a tone setting kill for the first point of the third set and Henderson followed it up with back-to-back aces to put CCSU ahead 7-2.
• After going up seven, the Blue Devils let the Warriors come right back with an agressive swing as Merrimack went on a 10-1 run.
• Both teams traded kills the rest of the way, but a Henderson kill followed by a block from van Heijningen and Mia Lombardo seemed to swing the momentum in the Blue Devils' favor.
• The Blue Devils won the set and secured the sweep after a bad serve from the Warriors failed to cross the net.

NOTES

• McCreath took the court at Detrick for the first time this season after an injury sidelined her during the early goings of the year.
• Henderson recorded her ninth double-double of the season on Friday with 14 kills and 11 digs. The senior was the only Blue Devil with double-digit kills in the match.
• As always, Ashlyn Eisenga led the charge with 16 digs in the match. The senior also had a huge kill in the third set that re-energized the team. Eisenga now had 356 digs this season, the second highest total of her career (551 in 2019-20),
• It was a block party for the defense on Friday as Mia Lombardo (3) Kraemer (2) and van Heijningen (2) each had multiple block assists.

UP NEXT...

The Blue Devils will play their final match of the season on Saturday against first-seeded Bryant. CCSU's seniors will be honored before the match begins.