NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — No. 23 Virginia Wesleyan (15-0) stayed unbeaten with a 3-1 win over the Haverford College volleyball team (9-4) at The Freeman Center on Saturday. The Marlins took the match with set scores of 25-21, 25-12, 22-25, 25-20, highlighted by a .414 hitting percentage in a pivotal second set.
Haverford came out strong in the opening frame as the teams traded points early. Elizabeth Cella and Fiona Moord delivered timely kills, and the Fords briefly grabbed momentum when Kira Chaney dropped in back-to-back service aces for a 10-9 lead. The Marlins answered with a balanced attack. Haverford kept it tight late, with kills from Eliana Brown and Charlotte Dziki giving the Fords a 20-19 lead before a run of attack errors swung the set Virginia Wesleyan's way, 25-21.
The Marlins imposed themselves in the second set, racing out to a 4-0 start behind Alexis Shaw and Hannah Smith. Smith was dominant, hitting .667 in the set, while Virginia Wesleyan also scored multiple points from the service line. Haverford responded with kills from Moord and Brown but could not slow the Marlins' rhythm in transition. A late service error stopped the run, and Virginia Wesleyan closed it out, 25-12.
Haverford answered in the third, erasing an early 5-2 deficit to tie it 6-6 behind a Kayla Chu ace and a kill from Izabela Potocnjak. The Fords then capitalized on Marlins' errors and found rhythm offensively, with Potocnjak and Gia Frank combining for key kills. Frank posted two kills in the set, while Potocnjak added an ace for an 18-16 lead. Haverford took a 24-21 advantage following a VWU attack error before Brown ended the set with a kill at 25-22.
The fourth set was tightly contested early, with Cella and Potocnjak supplying kills and Potocnjak adding another ace to cut the deficit to 8-6. Virginia Wesleyan countered with high-efficiency swings from Smith and Madi Schmidt. Though Haverford made a late push — including a Chu ace and kills from Dziki and Brown that cut the advantage to 20-17 — the Marlins closed the match, 25-20, on back-to-back kills from Schmidt and Brianna Clay.
Potocnjak finished with six kills and three aces. Chu directed the attack with 15 assists and added a match-best three aces. Cella paced the Fords with nine kills, 10 digs and a service ace, while DeBlecourt contributed 13 assists and nine digs.
Smith powered Virginia Wesleyan with 17 kills, two aces and 13 digs. Shaw added 14 kills on a .275 clip, while setter Niya Nash dished out 48 assists and chipped in 18 digs. At the net, Breana Brooks posted a match-high six blocks.
Volleyball returns to action Saturday, Oct. 4, at Franklin & Marshall for the Centennial Conference opener. First serve is set for 1 p.m. in Lancaster, Pa.
