WILKES-BARRE – Three members of the Wilkes University women's volleyball team finished the match with seven kills while two others added six and five respectively as the Colonels used a balanced attack to defeat Cairn University 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) at the Marts Center Thursday night in non-conference action.

Junior Kelsey Carroll (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe), and sophomores Nicole Fitzpatrick (Newhampton, NY/Minisink Valley) and Hope Ousey (Exton, PA/Henderson) each finished with seven kills while senior Laura Booths (Lake Ariel, PA/Western Wayne) added six and first year Alexis Reedy (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area) five. First year setters Alexa Cassel (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) and Jaclyn Rawa (West Chester, PA/Henderson) distributed the ball well with 20 and 13 assists respectively.

Wilkes improved to 5-3 overall with the victory while Cairn fell to 2-6.

The Highlanders gained an early lead in the first set at 6-3 before a five-point run by Carroll gave the Colonels an 8-6 edge. Carroll had a kill and four service aces in a row during the run. The set remained tight and was tied at 17 when a kill by Carroll was followed by two in a row from Reedy to put Wilkes ahead by three. Wilkes closed the set at 25-19 with the final three points on a kill by Booths and two by Ousey.

Cairn started the second set hot, jumping out to a 9-5 lead before Wilkes closed with a three-point run that included a kill by Reedy and an ace by Rawa. The Colonels gained their first lead of the set at 11-10 following three consecutive kills, one by Fitzpatrick and two by Carroll. A five-point run stretched the Wilkes advantage to 16-12 and included an ace by Fitzpatrick and kills by junior Allison Murie (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) and Carroll. After two Highlander points Wilkes steadied again with four straight to lead 20-14 and from there never let the lead dip below four points as they went ahead 2-0 in the match, again winning 25-19.

The third set saw neither team hold a lead of more than two points until Wilkes went on a tear with the score tied at 13. The Colonels rattled off nine consecutive points with sophomore Ali Yordy (Fairfield, PA/Fairfield Area) serving to go ahead 22-13. Yordy smacked five aces during the rally while Ousey had two kills. Cairn scored six of the next seven points but could only pull to within five points at 23-19 before a Fitzpatrick kill put Wilkes at match point. A bad set by the Highlanders on the following point allowed the Colonels to finish the third set off at 25-19 to take the home sweep.

Carroll added a season high of four aces and a career high of nine digs to her seven kills and stellar .467 hitting percentage on the night. The seven kills for Fitzpatrick were her career high as were the five aces for Yordy. Cassel tied her career high with 20 assists and picked up her third double-double of the season with 12 digs. Junior Caitlin Bower (Blandon, PA/Fleetwood) set a season high with 11 digs while Yordy led Wilkes with 13 from the libero position.

Caroline Conrad led Cairn with eight kills, 15 digs, and three blocks. Olivia Zepp had 21 assists for the visitors.

The Colonels controlled the service game with 14 aces compared to three for Cairn and had 38 kills compared to 25.
Next up the Colonels travel to Camden, N.J. on Sunday for a tri-match. Wilkes faces Penn State Harrisburg at 1:00 p.m. and then the host Rutgers-Camden at 3:00 p.m.