ST. PAUL, Minn. – Rachel Bingham had a match-high 10 kills as the Carleton College volleyball team swept Hamline University by scores of 25-9, 25-20, and 25-20. With the victory, the Knights halted a mini two-game slide. They improved to 12-10 on the season and 3-5 in the MIAC, one game behind St. Olaf for sixth place in the race for the six-team MIAC Playoffs.
 
Carleton hit .223 in the contest while playing stingy defense to limit the Pipers (8-16, 1-7 MIAC) to a .081 clip, the lowest performance against the Knights by a conference foe this season.
 
In the opening set, Carleton raced out to a 7-2 lead before Ella Curtis-Revelle headed back to the serving zone. She registered four of the Knights' six services aces in the set as Carleton won 11 consecutive points to build an insurmountable 18-2 advantage. The Knights hit a blistering .458 during the set with 12 kills and only one error in 24 attempts.
 
The Knights grabbed an early 6-2 advantage in the second set before Hamline responded with a 10-5 run to build a 12-11 lead. Carleton senior Kerrigan Candra registered consecutive kills to provide the necessary spark as the visitors would not trail again in the set. Hamline did pull to within 21-19, but a kill by Elleyn Swafford and an ace from Katelyn Harder shifted the momentum back to Carleton, and the Knights claimed the game, 25-20.
 
The third set went back-and-forth early on, and the scoreboard read 10-10 after a Kayli Starkey kill for Hamline. Jennifer Bricker had two kills and Bingham added another during the Knights' 5-1 mini-run that gave Carleton a lead it would not relinquish. Both Bricker and Bingham had five kills in the set as the Knights finished off the sweep by a 25-20 score.
 
Bingham hit .286 in the match, her top average in a MIAC contest this season, as she reached double figures in kills for the third consecutive match. Bricker hit .429 and had eight kills on the night along with a team-best three blocks. Megan Smith handed out 22 assists and added four aces and a team-best 12 digs. Curtis-Revelle collected six of the Knights' 13 aces in the match.
 
Grace Bathurst paced the Pipers with nine kills, while Kaitlyn Kotek had 13 assists, and Jenna Rubbelke totaled 15 digs.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton has four regular-season matches remaining, including a Wednesday, Oct. 30 contest against College of Saint Benedict. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m.