NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Carleton College volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-0 sweep (25-23, 26-24, 25-22) over Nebraska Wesleyan University to open up the Carleton/St. Olaf Invitational on Friday evening at West Gym
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Carleton set the pace in the opening set, overcoming an early 3-1 deficit with an 8-1 run to open up a 9-4 lead. The run came on a service turn from junior libero Madeleine Dimitre, which included a pair of kills from junior Ellewyn Swafford and another from classmate Abby Kvart. Nebraska Wesleyan battled back to level the score at 13-13 thanks to a 6-1 response. Carleton countered with a pair of kills by senior Jennifer Bricker sandwiched around a kill from first-year Alexis Ormsby, taking a 16-13 lead. After back-to-back double blocks from sophomore Sami Torresin and Swafford made it 20-16, the Prairie Wolves mounted a late push to draw within one point at 24-23. Carleton sealed the set on the next play when a Prairie Wolves attack error ended the 25-23 frame.
The second set featured eight ties and four lead changes as both squads traded momentum. Trailing 15-13, Carleton put together a key 5-0 surge behind back-to-back kills from Swafford, then another pair of consecutive kills from Ormsby to take an 18-15 lead. A 5-1 run response from the Prairie Wolves gave the visitors a 20-19 advantage before the Knights countered with five straight of their own. Ormsby had two more back-to-back kills to give her team a 24-20 lead and its first crack at set point. But Nebraska Wesleyan staved off four straight set points to come all the way back and tie the score 24-24 before kills from Ormsby and Kvart snatched a 26-24 victory for the Knights.
Carleton carried momentum into the third set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead and stretching it to as large as 13-6 in the early going. Nebraska Wesleyan chipped away at the lead, narrowing the margin to four (15-11) before the Maize and Blue ripped off four straight points, led by a pair of kills from Kvart, to open up its largest lead of the set (19-11). The Prairie Wolves refused to go quietly, orchestrating a 5-0 run to pull within two at 22-20
. But it was too little, too late for the visitors as Carleton scored three of the final five points to close out the set 25-22 and lock up the match sweep.
Ormsby paced the Knights' attack with a match-high 13 kills, while dropping two service aces. Swafford turned in a well-rounded effort with 10 kills and a team-high four blocks (one solo, three assisted), and Kvart added eight kills. Megan Smith directed the offense with a match-high 31 assists and registered another double-double by adding 13 digs. Dimitre anchored the back row with a match-best 24 digs, and sophomore Aditi Mukhirala contributed 14 digs in the defensive effort.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be back in action at West Gym tomorrow with a pair of matches. The Knights will take on Simpson College at 12pm before finishing off the Carleton/St. Olaf Invitational with a 4pm match up against Martin Luther.
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