From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics
The 25th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University volleyball team defeated eighth-ranked Wittenberg University, 3-0, on Friday, September 9 to advance to 6-0 on the season. The two nationally-ranked teams met at the Juniata Asics Invitational in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
In a tightly contested match, the Tartans won, 25-22, 26-24, and 27-25.
In set one, the Tartans rallied from an early 6-3 deficit to take an 8-6 lead while senior Molly Higgins (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) was serving. A kill by junior Eliza Donohue (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) started the run before Higgins served for four straight points that ended with her first service ace of the set.
The Tartans continued that run to and held a 14-9 lead after a kill by senior Jackie Gibbons (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township). After the Tigers pulled the score within one, 16-15, the Tartans earned a point off a Tiger attack error and another service ace by Higgins to go back up by three. Points switched hands until the Tartans held set-point at 24-22 and finished the first set with a kill by sophomore Sarah Jurgens (Eagan, Minn./Eagan).
The Tigers got out to a 5-0 lead in the second set before a timeout by the Tartans turned things in their favor as they pulled the score back to 5-4. A kill by junior Heather Holton (Haslett, Mich./Haslett) gave the Tartans their first lead of the set, 10-9, before the Cardinal and Gray scored two more points on errors by the Tigers causing them to take a timeout.
Again, the teams would trade points until the Tartans held set-point twice at 24-23 and 25-24, both on kills by Donohue. The winning point came off an attack by sophomore Lauren Mueller (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy), as the Tigers were called for a blocking error.
In the third and final set, the Tartans held a 17-12 lead after a service ace by junior Hannah Wooten (Hughson, Calif./Hughson). The Tigers pulled back even at 17-all before the Tartans held the lead again at 23-21. A kill by Donohue set up the final match-pointer after the score was tied three times with the winning point coming off the serve of Wooten.
For the match, senior Emily Newton (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) registered 31 assists while Donohue and Mueller each had nine kills. Higgins led the defense with 18 digs as Newton picked up nine.