Volleyball wins second straight, shutout GSU, 3-0

The Delaware women’s volleyball team defeated Georgia State University Saturday night at the Bob Carpenter Center. The win was the Hens’ first CAA victory of the season.

The Hens swept the Panthers, improving their record to 4-11 with a 1-1 conference record.  Georgia State fell to 2-14 and 0-3 in the CAA.

Senior outside hitter Alissa Alker led Delaware with a kill percentage of .297 on 14 kills. Alker also had a team-high 16.5 points and added 13 digs, two aces, two assists and one block.  
Head coach Bonnie Kenny said the team needed to finish rallies, a point that was not overlooked by the Hens, who registered 41 kills and .179 attack percentage.  Georgia State, in contrast, had an attack percentage of .081.

“I thought we served and defended well so I think their hitters probably got a little frustrated because we dug a lot of balls,” Kenny said.

Junior outside hitter Katie Hank had nine kills, an attack percentage of .194, three digs and one block.  Hank also added nine points to the Delaware victory.

“We really worked on hitting percentage during practice,” Hank said.  “We definitely worked on terminating this week.”

Freshman setter Mackenzie Olsen led the Hens with 31 assists.  She also had seven digs, one ace and a kill percentage of .250.  Chelsea Lawrence, a senior outside hitter, had a kill percentage of .250 on seven kills, one ace, one dig and one block.

Freshman libero Ariel Shonk recorded a team-high 19 digs and had one assist.

 The Hens won the opening set comfortably, 25-17.  Delaware seemed to have an answer for all of Georgia State’s runs and took control of the set after scoring four consecutive points to go ahead 23-15.  They opened up the second set with a 5-1 run and never relinquished the lead, winning the set 25-19.    
Kenny said she was concerned that the tough week of practice would wear the team out, but it did not appear to be an issue Saturday night.

“We hit a lot, I was kind of nervous we wouldn’t have a lot of legs, but we did,” she said.

The third set, which featured five lead changes and six tied scores, was the closest of the night.  After trading points for much of the set Delaware was able to pull ahead and win, 25-20.  
Saturday night’s win capped off an impressive week for Delaware after they swept Morgan State Tuesday.  The Hens will take on Delaware State  tonight in the “Route 1 Rivalry” and will continue CAA action Thursday at UNC Wilmington.   

“We just had to mesh a little bit,” Alker said. “Volleyball is all about connection.”

Alker said the team is making big improvements and they look to be continuing that in the future.

“We are just getting better every day,” Alker said.  “It doesn’t matter where you start, it’s where you finish.”