COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team knocked off 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament qualifier Middlebury College, 3-1 (25-21, 32-20, 15-25, 28-26), on Tuesday evening in the Ross Sports Center for its first victory over the Panthers since Oct. 31, 2006.
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RECORDS
- Saint Michael's (2-1), Middlebury (1-3)
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
- Senior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 50 assists, 16 digs, 4 kills
- Senior Aaliyah Huihui-Martinez (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame), 14 digs
- Senior Jillian Orth (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 17 digs
- Junior Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 13 kills
- Sophomore Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 15 kills, .345 hitting, 2 aces
- Sophomore Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 23 digs, 6 assists, 2 aces
- First-year Kaeleigh Cucura (Redmond, Ore./Ridgeview), 5 kills, .400 hitting, 5 blocks
- First-year Nora Schulze (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), 18 kills
- First-year D'Niaya Settles (Ames, Iowa/Ames), 8 kills, 14 digs
OPPONENT LEADERS
- Senior Gabbie O'Toole, 49 assists, 12 digs
- Junior Campbell Keller, 27 digs
- Sophomore Lauren Baxter, 15 kills, 4 blocks
- Sophomore Molly Harrison, 17 kills, 15 digs, 3 blocks
MATCH FACTS
- The teams played through 36 ties and 16 lead changes during the match.
THE ACTION
- Middlebury scored six of the match's first eight points and continued to lead by four at 16-12 following a host service error. Still down 20-17, Saint Michael's ended the opening set on an 8-1 run, keyed by two blocks and a kill from Cucura and a pair of kills by Welch.
- Thirteen ties and six lead swings occurred in the second set, when consecutive kills from Schulze had the Purple Knights up 23-16. Behind the service of first-year Annabella Rando, the Panthers reeled off eight straight points to reach set point, one of six the visitors reached without netting the clinching point. Schulze's kill tied the teams at 30, and consecutive Middlebury attack errors provided Saint Michael's the set.
- In a 9-9 third set, the Panthers slowly pulled away with 16 of the final 22 points.
- Set No. 4 featured 15 more ties and eight lead swings, with neither team leading by more than three points. Schulze's kill made it 20-18 in favor of her team before Baxter dropped two kills in a 5-1 run that swung Middlebury into a 23-21 advantage. Welch and Almeida responded with kills for the next two points, and Almeida later went on a personal 3-1 run to secure the win, notching two kills and the clinching ace.
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH
- Friday against UVA Wise (11 a.m.) and Saint Leo University (6:30 p.m.) at Saint Leo's Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament in Saint Leo, Fla.
