Volleyball Sweeps Merrimack on Friday

The Central Connecticut volleyball team downed Merrimack in straight sets on Friday night in Northeast Conference action at Detrick Gymnasium. Weronika Poczynek posted a double-double to lead the Blue Devils' attack.

The Blue Devils will host Stonehill in their season finale on Saturday.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score:  CCSU 3, Merrimack 0 (28-26, 25-16, 25-21)
Records: CCSU (6-19, 5-8 NEC), MC (7-20, 6-7 NEC)
Location: Detrick Gymnasium | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• CCSU took an early lead in the opening set before Merrimack closed to within 7-6. A kill by Lauren Milani sparked a 5-0 run that opened a 12-6 edge for Central. The Warriors got within, 14-10, when Isabelle Roufs dropped in a kill and Milani followed with an ace to make the margin six once again. The Blue Devils maintained that advantage at 19-13, when the Warriors rattled off four straight points. A Weronika Poczynek ended the run and CCSU pushed the lead back to four at 21-17, but the Warriors came on again, scoring the next three points to force a Blue Devils timeout with a 21-20 lead. The set was tied at 22, 23, 24 and a review of an out from Merrimack overturned the point and gave the Warriors their second set point. On the ensuing point, Roufs and Mia Lombardo blocked a swing to bring the set even and Margaret Nolan served an ace on the next point, for the Blue Devils first set point, but Merrimack answered to tie the set 26-26 A Poczynek kill was followed by a kill from Victoria Sanabria to give CCSU a 28-26 set win.
• Trailing 2-1 to open the second set,  Lombardo had a kill that started a 3-0 run putting CCSU in front. That run extended to eight of 10 points, putting CCSU on top 9-3 and forcing a Merrimack timeout. Merrimack was not able to close within fewer than three (8-5) as the Blue Devils pushed the lead to 19-9 on its way to a 25-16 set win.
• The Warriors jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third set before kills from Poczynek and Isabella Bratzke made it 7-5. Trailing 9-5, a block from Poczynek and Bratzke started a 6-0 run that gave CCSU an 11-9 lead and forced a Merrimack timeout. CCSU scored three of the first four points out of the timeout to build a 14-10 advantage. The Warriors scored three straight points to get within a point, before Milani sent a ball along the net for a kill and the two-point margin. Merrimack scored the two ensuing points to tie the set at 15 and force a CCSU timeout. The teams traded points through 20-20, before CCSU retook the lead on a Bratzke service ace. Sanabria had a kill out of the timeout for a 22-20 lead. Milani answered a Warrior kill to give the Blue Devils a 23-21 lead that was followed by a Merrimack error setting up a match sealing ace from Larissa Heimer.

NUMBER TO KNOW

0 – CCSU led wire-to-wire in the second set. The match had just six lead changes overall.

NOTES

• The Blue Devils have won all 10 meetings between the schools.
• Poczynek posted her 10^th double-double of the season. She hit .423 in the match and added two aces and a block.
• Milani finished with 12 kills, four blocks and two aces.
• Larissa Heimer had 15 assists and five digs, while Kylee Baranski had 13 assists.
• Roufs and Bratzke each added four blocks.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils host Stonehill for Senior Day on Saturday.

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