Volleyball Takes Down Bay Path In Straight Sets, 3-0

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's volleyball team took home a convincing straight-set win over the visiting Bay Path University (Bay Path) Wildcats in a non-conference match Tuesday evening inside the O'Connell Center in West Hartford.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: USJ 3, Bay Path 0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-19)
Records: USJ (4-10), Bay Path (5-10)
Location: O'Connell Center (West Hartford, Conn.)

KEY MOMENTS

• USJ started the match on fire, going on a 4-0 run fueled by a Shannon Carey kill to take the early advantage.
• Bay Path would look to even the match, cutting the gap to two, 5-3, but the Blue Jays responded with two points of their own to reopen a four-point gap. Carey would come up big again, recording the kill to give USJ a 7-3 lead.
• The Wildcats continued to fight back, eventually taking the lead, 9-8. The visitors would extend their advantage to as much as three, 13-10.
• The two teams would trade the lead back-and-forth, before USJ utilized a 7-1 stretch to secure match point, 24-18. Carey would be the key contributor, this time from the service line, notching back-to-back aces to secure set point.
• Bay Path rallied late, cutting the gap to 24-21, but a Claire Quinn kill secured the opening set for USJ, 25-21.
• The second set featured another back-and-forth affair between USJ and Bay Path, as the two teams played out to a 5-5 tie in the opening stages.
• After the Wildcats took a quick two-point edge, the Blue Jays responded with a seven point run, retaking the lead, 12-7.
• Bay Path cut the deficit back to two, but another timely USK run extended the gap to eight, 18-10. USJ took advantage of Bay Path errors, while Katina Nanos tallied two aces to fuel the stretch. The Blue Jays would carry the momentum throughout the rest of the second, winning, 25-15.
• The third, and ultimately final set, featured another close contest early on. Both the Blue Jays and Wildcats traded points, playing out a 5-5 deadlock.
• Bay Path would go on to take the lead, gaining as much as a three-point edge, 14-11. However, USJ's Natalia Rabassa would record a timely service ace, tying the set at 15-15.
• With the third set knotted at 18 apiece, USJ would utilize a 5-0 stretch, guided by kills from Peyton Greger and Claire Quinn to take a 23-18 lead.
• The Blue Jays would hold on, preventing any last chance Wildcat comeback as an attack error by Bay Path secured the set for USJ 25-19, and the match, 3-0.

QUOTABLE

"Tonight was another great match from our middles as both Kailee Snyder and Victoria Adler came up big for us," said head coach Sheila Gisbrecht. "Overall, the match gave us a good idea of what we ned to prep for going into our next GNAC weekend."

NOTES

• Shannon Carey paced the Blue Jay's offense, recording a match-high 10 kills and four service aces.
• Fernanda Ayala Rodriguez was a force defensively and as a setter, pacing the team with 14 assists and 10 digs for her second double-double of the season.
• Kailee Snyder was efficient on the attack, recording a team-high .500 hitting percentage, recording eight kills on the night.
• Snyder was also a menace at the net, tallying a match-high three blocks.

UP NEXT

Volleyball heads on the road, beginning a four-game road trip at Norwich University for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match against the Cadets and Dean College on Friday, September 30. Opening serve of the first game between the Blue Jays and Norwich is slated for 3:00 p.m., while the Blue Jays' final match versus the Bulldogs is scheduled for approximately 5:00 p.m. inside Andrews Hall in Northfield, Vt.