OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Union College women's volleyball team finished up a perfect weekend at the Oswego State Quad with two more wins on Saturday, as the Dutchwomen swept host Oswego and St. John Fisher College by the same 3-0 scores.
Union (13-8) featured a well-balanced attack in the two wins, with five players reaching double figures in kills on the day. Sophomore
Lara Atalay led the team with 18 kills and seven aces, while classmate
Katie Moss added 15 kills on .444 hitting. Fellow sophomore
Sage Shimamoto had a team-best 56 assists as well.
Union 3, Oswego State 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-20)
Atalay and classmate
Gillian Gore both put down a team-best 10 kills in the first match of the day, as Union swept the host Lakers. Atalay added a match-high 13 digs for the team's only double-double, while
Kaylee Velasquez added 12 digs as well.
All three sets were competitive to start the day, but Union came up with the big points when needed. Sophomore
Steph Libonati helped to close out the first frame with back-to-back kills that gave the visitors a 24-22 advantage, as Union scored the final three points to take the lead. In the middle stanza, five straight points on Shimamoto's serve put Union up 15-13 and the team never relinquished its advantage. The team jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the third set and allowed Oswego to record consecutive points only three times the rest of the way to complete the sweep.
Union 3, St. John Fisher 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23)
The Dutchwomen used another balanced attack to finish the day, with no player recording more than nine kills in a 3-0 win over the Cardinals. Moss led the team with her nine kills on .467 hitting, followed by Atalay with eight and
Julia Louis with seven.
Union eased its way into the match with a good first set, scoring three straight points after ceding the first two and never falling behind again. The teams traded 5-0 runs to start the second stanza, but Union again took control with the match knotted at 14, outscoring Fisher 11-5 the rest of the way.
Union fell behind 8-2 to begin the third set, but the team clawed back with an 11-4 run to grab its first lead at 13-12. The frame was still in the balance tied at 22, but Shimamoto had a huge dump kill to get the Dutchwomen to match point and a bad set closed things out.
Union will finish up Liberty League play next weekend, beginning with a big matchup at Clarkson University on Friday at 7 p.m.
