Wayne State College used 12 kills from senior Taya Beller and 11 more by sophomore Channatee Robles as the #4 Wildcats cruised to a 25-13, 25-10 and 25-19 victory over Emory & Henry University (Va.) Friday morning at the Eckerd College Volleyball Invitational in St. Petersburg, Florida. WSC is now 2-0 on the season while the Wasps are 0-1.
The opening set was close early until the Wildcats pulled away late for a 25-13 first set win. With WSC leading 7-6, the ‘Cats took control of the set scoring eight of the next nine points highlighted by back-to-back service aces from senior Brooke Peltz.
Taya Beller finished the opening set with five kills on nine attacks followed by Robles and Brooklyn Kusler with three kills apiece as WSC closed the set with a .480 hitting percentage on 13 kills and just one attack error.
The second set saw 13 different Wildcats earn playing time as WSC never trailed while holding Emory & Henry to a -.087 attack percentage to record a 25-10 victory.
WSC cruised to a 13-1 lead early and had five service aces in the set led by Kusler with two while Robles produced a team-high five kills followed by Beller with three.
The third set saw the visiting Wasps give the ‘Cats more of a battle featuring nine ties and four lead changes. With Emory & Henry holding a 17-16 lead, Wayne State closed the set strong and closed the sweep with a 25-19 set win.
Senior Maggie Brahmer fueled the late set surge finishing with six kills on eight attacks to go with two blocks. Beller followed with four kills and Robles had three while freshman setter Molly Romano added a pair of service aces.
WSC ended the match with 43 kills and a .348 hitting percentage while holding Emory & Henry to 22 kills and a .073 percentage. The Wildcats held a 38-29 edge in digs with both teams recording seven blocks. Wayne State posted nine service aces to just one for the Wasps.
Beller led a balanced hitting attack for the Wildcats with 12 kills followed by Robles with 11 and Brahmer nine.
Brahmer had a team-high four blocks while Peltz accounted for a team-best 11 digs and three service aces. Romano was credited with 34 set assists.
The Wildcats volleyball team tallied another win behind All-Americans Maggie Brahmer’s 11 kills and Taya Beller’s 10 kills in the three-set sweep of the Saint Leo University Lions. The #4 ‘Cats put away the Lions in straight sets, 25-16, 25-9, and 25-15. WSC moves to 3-0 on the season and SLU falls to 1-1.
Set one was a back-and-forth battle until Wayne State was able to gain a 13-9 advantage and forced Saint Leo to take a timeout. WSC outpaced SLU in kills by one but took advantage of the 11 errors by SLU and took the first set 25-16.
Brahmer led the squad with four kills through the first set hitting a strong .667 and Channatee Robles added two kills. Beller hosted a block party in the first set with three blocks.
The second set started with a 5-0 run by the ‘Cats and they were able to extend their lead to 12-5 before a timeout was taken by the Lion coaching staff. Wayne State took the second set in dominating fashion, 25-9.
18 of WSC’s 25 points were kills in the second set, with Brooklyn Kusler and Beller combining for 12 of them. Brahmer added four kills and the Wildcat defense recorded four blocks and 17 digs where Brooke Peltz grabbed eight of them.
Wayne State completed the sweep in the third set with a balanced attack all around. Beller and Brahmer put down three kills each and Robles followed with two to help get away from the Lions for a three-set victory, winning the third 25-15.
WSC concluded the contest with a hitting percentage of .340 with 40 kills and five service aces. Both teams put up 50 digs in the game, but the Lions committed 25 attack errors while the Wildcats limited their errors to only six. Wayne State stood tall at the net against Saint Leo as they put down 10 blocks.
Brahmer led the team with 11 kills while hitting an impressive .526 followed up by Bellers .529 percentage to go with her 10 kills. Molly Romano dished out 33 assists, added seven digs, and got in on two blocks in her third career game. Peltz led the defense with her 21 digs in the three-set matchup.
Wayne State closes play Saturday at the Eckerd College Invitational facing host school Eckerd at 11 a.m. Central Time.
