NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Carleton College women's volleyball team improved to 6-2 on the season and collected its fourth consecutive win with a straight-sets victory over Crown College (25-22, 25-22, 25-17) in its home opener on Wednesday evening at the West Gym.
The opening set featured ten tie scores and six lead changes as the two squads battled back and forth. After Crown grabbed an early 4-1 advantage, Carleton answered with a four-point run featuring consecutive service aces from junior Madeleine Dimitre to give her team a 6-5 lead. Crown later used a six-point push to open up a 16-12 lead. Trailing 20-16 late in the frame, the Knights rallied with a 9-2 set-ending run to secure the 25-22 victory. Junior Ellewyn Swafford and senior Rachel Bingham each tallied multiple kills in the run to give the Knights a 1-0 match lead.
Carleton maintained momentum in set two, though the Polars kept it tight with 12 ties and six lead changes. The Knights gained separation mid-set as Megan Smith set up back-to-back kills for first-year Alexis Ormsby and Bingham, contributing to a 5-1 surge that put Carleton up 12-8. Crown fought back to edge ahead 22-21 late. However, Carleton closed out the frame on a four-point sweep, sparked by a Smith, who notched a kill and consecutive aces in the spurt. Sophomore Sami Torresin cleaned things up with the final kill of the set to claim another 25-22 win.
Carleton controlled the narrative in the final frame, using an early stretch of five unanswered points to build an 8-5 lead behind kills from Bingham, who had four kills in the spurt. After Crown pulled within one at 15-14, Carleton turned on the jets. The Knights orchestrated a decisive 6-0 late-set run to push their lead to 22-15. Carleton scored nine of the final 11 points of the set before Swafford put the finishing touches on the sweep, slamming down a final kill from Smith to lock up the 25-17 set victory and match win.
Bingham led the Carleton attack with 12 kills and Swafford chipped in 11, while hitting .318. Alexis Ormsby delivered an efficient performance with eight kills on a team-high .350 hitting percentage. Smith orchestrated the offense with a match-high 32 assists while adding 10 digs and three service aces. Dimitre anchored the defense with a match-high 16 digs and senior Jennifer Bricker racked up three blocks.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action on Friday afternoon in Arden Hills, Minn. The Knights will compete in the Bethel Invitational over the weekend, taking on host Bethel in a non-conference match on Friday at 4pm followed by a match up with Carrol College at 6:30pm. They will round out the weekend with Bethany Lutheran on Saturday at 10am.
