SCHENECTADY, NY – Volleyball was able to take the first two games of the Interleague Challenge as the Dutchwomen defeated SUNY Oneonta 3-1 and Lehman College 3-0 at the Viniar Athletic Center Friday night.
 
Against the Red Dragons, the Dutchwomen trailed 6-4 early in the first set. Union kept pace with Oneonta as they exchanged points with the score of 10-8 in favor of the Red Dragons. The Dutchwomen were able to take the lead for the first time in the set with great play from Rajpreet Dhaliwal. Oneonta recaptured the lead with some aggressive hitting from Brittany Calvello, Bridget McHugh and Hannah O'Neil. Kelley White and Rachel Wyman kept the score even at 19 with a couple of kills. After exchanging the next few points, Oneonta was able to regain their two-point advantage at 22-20. Coming out of a Union timeout, the Red Dragons were able to put away the Dutchwomen 25-21 in the first set.
 
Kacy Boburka started the Red Dragons to a 4-2 highlighted by a service ace. Defense was able to get the Dutchwomen back even at five all. Marissa Vollmer, White and Lauren Woods were able to aid the Dutchwomen offense to build a 12-8 lead. Union was able to extend their lead to five before Oneonta took their first timeout. White added on to the lead with a kill and a block to make it 19-12. McHugh and Calvello began to rally the Red Dragons as the Dutchwomen lead shrank to 23-18. However, Union was able to close the set with two straight points to level the match at one all. Union held a slim margin to open the third set 6-4. After an Oneonta timeout, the Red Dragons were able to get within two at 12-10. Union was able to capitalize on hitting miscues by the Oneonta attack to build a six-point advantage. The lead quickly shrank as the Red Dragons chipped the Dutchwomen lead to three at 21-18. Jill Darpino and the Red Dragons made it close with a vicious rally on both sides but the Dutchwomen prevailed to take the third set 25-21. 
 
Mackenzie Westfall and the Dutchwomen sparked out to a 4-0 lead to open the fourth set which included a service ace by the setter. Union was able to extend their lead to seven with another ace, this time from Dhaliwal. Vollmer, who came into this week, 40th in the nation in digs per set with a 5.58 average, contributed on offense with an ace as well. However, Oneonta rallied back to level the score at 14 all. Wyman proved to be the stop gap briefly as the freshman sparked a quick 3-0 run. Oneonta twice reduced the lead to one and eventually took the lead 21-19 with great hitting from their front line. Union's defense rallied back to recapture the lead at 24-22. White capped off the final set to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-1. 
 
Oneonta was led offensively by Boburka with 10 kills while O'Neil chipped in with nine of her own. Calvello orchestrated the offense with 23 assists while Kristina Pelaccio paced the defense with 17 digs. Calvello and Boburka also contributed on defense with 17 and 14 respectively. 
 
Union was led by Wyman who set a career high 21 kills. Westfall aided the offense with 42 assists in the win. Defensively, the Dutchwomen were paced by Vollmer with 22 digs. Dhaliwal chipped in with five block assists while Nora Wood and Woods had three.
 
In the match against Lehman College, Mackenzie Westfall and Rachel Wyman allowed Union to jump out to early 4-1 lead. The Dutchwomen kept the momentum going rolling to a 13-5 lead after some defensive mishaps from the Lightning.  Mistakes and miscommunications plagued Lehman for most of the match as Union played stellar team defense. The Dutchwomen dominated the Lightning and never gave them a chance to crawl back into the match.  Union took the first set from Lehman 25-10. 
 
The second set proved to be much more difficult for the Dutchwomen to pull away in the very beginning. Yet, after trading the first five points, Union began separate themselves. Once again, defensive mishaps from Lehman and great team play from Union allowed them to create a seven-point lead. Good play by Wyman and Shannon Hughes throughout the set let the Dutchwomen sustain a sizable lead. Late in the set, Union was up 23-9 and ended the set with another 25-10 win.
 
Union jumped out to another early lead in the third set going up 8-2. After a Lehman timeout, the Dutchwomen were ahead 14-5.  After going back and forth for the next couple of points, Union began to take back control going up 20-10. The Lightning tried to stop the Dutchwomen's momentum with another timeout but Union finished them off 25-10. Union finished the match dominating all three sets.
 
Lehman was paced by Jo-Mari Aquino and Cari English each with three kills. Imani Dubois dished out 12 assists while Julia Mercado made 14 digs in the loss.
 
Union was paced by Wyman with seven and two service assists. Kim Armstrong had 18 assists in the win while Vollmer made 12 digs.
 
The Dutchwomen will be playing against SUNY Potsdam at 10 a.m. and Keene State at noon tomorrow to wrap up the tournament.