Volleyball Splits Tri-Match at Pace
Pleasantville, N.Y. (Sept. 24, 2011) – C.W. Post volleyball split its tri-match on Saturday to Northeast-10 competition, dropping first to Pace 3-0 (19-25, 18-25, 19-25) and then bouncing back to earn a 3-0 sweep victory over Merrimack (25-21, 25-22, 25-22). The Pioneers maintain a .500 record for the season, balancing at 7-7 now in 2011.
In the first match of the day, the Pioneers took on the host of the tri-match, the Pace Setters. Pace jumped out to an early one set to none lead in the match when the team took a 16-16 game and spurred a 9-3 run to close out the opening frame. The Setters managed to force eight Pioneer attacking errors to help secure the victory.
Pace then used a 12-3 run during the second set to put the score at 18-14 in favor of the home team. Five kills on the part of Nora Rugova allowed Pace to earn the 25-18 set victory and go up 2-0 in the match.
Using middle set runs to help take down the Pioneers, the Setters used that magic once again during the third to take a 14-13 deficit and turn it into a 14-21 lead over the Pioneers. This run propelled Pace to the set and match victory, taking the first match of the day from C.W. Post.
Rugova ended the match as the leader in kills, 12, for both teams. She recorded a hitting percentage of .417 to go along with only two attacking errors. 11 digs on her part also allowed for a double-double during the match.
For the Pioneers,
Lisa Delfs (Canandaigua, N.Y.) led C.W. Post with 11 kills of her own.
Emily Hoehn (Kearney, Neb.) led the team in digs with 16, with
Jordan Schroer (Kailua, Hawaii) only a couple behind her with 14 digs.
C.W. Post had a quick turnaround after the loss to Pace to turn its attention to the Warriors of Merrimack.
Makamae Namahoe (Hilo, Hawaii) showed no memory of the previous game, coming out and leading the Pioneers with strong play against the Warriors.
Delfs added two service aces late in the first set to help the Pioneers earn the victory. Schroer capped off the set with a kill, her four during the match. Namahoe kept the Pioneers on the attack throughout the set however, leading the team with seven kills alone in the beginning set.
The Pioneers quickly found themselves in a hole during the second set, seeing the Warriors take a 12-18 lead midway through the set. Schroer and Namahoe were once again the vocal points for a fierce Pioneer comeback, as the two combined 10 of the team's 16 kills in the set. Many of these kills came after falling behind, allowing C.W. Post to fight back and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
With the Pioneers looking to earn the sweep victory, the team jumped out to an early lead and look to be on its way. However, the Warriors were the ones on the climb back this time looking to spoil the Pioneers plans of sweeping. Late in the match, the score went back and forth between the two teams with the score deadlocked at 22 apiece. Two C.W. Post kills and one attacking error on the part of the Warriors proved to be the final margin as the Pioneers took the set victory and earned the match sweep.
Namahoe and Schroer shined the brightest in a good win all around for the Pioneers. Namahoe ended her match with 21 kills on a .459 hitting percentage to go along with 15 digs. Schroer nearly matched her teammate's performance with 16 kills of her own to go along with a hitting percentage of .351 and nine digs.
Stephanie Schwarz (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) was involved on many of those kills with 29 assists in the match to lead the team.
C.W. Post will be back on the road this Tuesday as the team will take the short trip to take on the Panthers of Adelphi in a non-conference match. Things are set to get underway at 7 p.m. between the two Long Island Rivals.