Volleyball Sweeps Hartford at Home

Freshman Emily Cochran tallied nine kills, seven digs, two aces and two blocks to lead the Central Connecticut State University volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-22) sweep of Hartford at home. Junior captain Amanda Bayer added 27 assists and seven digs of her own in the victory, as the Blue Devils improved their record to 7-8 on Wednesday evening.

Hartford was hot out of the gate, as the Hawks scored the first four points of the match. Cochran got CCSU on the board with a kill on an assist from Bayer to make it 4-1. The Blue Devils tied the set at 6-6 on a kill by sophomore Sara DeLacey and again at 7-7 after a score by senior captain Jamie Baumert. Central then took an 8-7 lead that they would not give up the rest of the way on a service ace by freshman Blaike King. CCSU went on to win the first set 25-14.

After a service error by the Hawks broke a 5-5 tie in the second set, Central went on an 8-1 run that gave the Blue Devils a 13-6 lead that sustained them throughout the set. Cochran had two kills and a block during the stretch. CCSU won the second set by a margin of 25-18. DeLacey, Baumert and junior Tori Vaughan each recorded two blocks to lead the Blue Devils in the set.

The third set was tightly contested throughout as they two teams were tied 12 times. The Blue Devils broke the final tie of the match at 17-17 and went on a 7-1 run to stretch their lead to 24-18. DeLacey was integral in the run, recording a kill, a block and assist. The Hawks fought back to come within two, at 24-22, but CCSU finished the match on an attacking error by Hartford.

Baumert finished with six kills, four digs and three blocks, while DeLacey totaled five kills and three blocks in the victory. Vaughan led the Blue Devils in blocks with five on the night and added five kills. Junior Kaitlin Petrella and Maite Mendizabal helped on the defense, tallying eight and seven digs, respectively.

Freshman Kami Nethersole led Hartford with 11 kills, while junior Lindsay Ford finished with 26 assists in the loss. The Hawks are now 6-9 on the season.

CCSU is now one game back of a .500 record at 7-8 and will begin a four match road trip starting with Northeast Conference foe, Bryant on Friday October 2 at 7:00 p.m.