SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College volleyball team hit a red-hot .466 and accumulated 49 kills on the way to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-11) sweep of Rochester Institute of Technology in a Liberty League matchup on Friday evening at Viniar Athletic Center.
Senior
Shannon McGrath paced Union (13-7, 2-0 Liberty League) with 15 kills on .287 hitting, while just missing a double-double with nine digs. Junior
Maddie McCarron hit .571 added nine kills on 14 swings and also recorded a game-high four blocks, and sophomore
Georgia Pinciaro and first-year
Shea Ringel chipped in eight kills apiece. Senior
Georgia Pool led the defensive effort with 13 digs and sophomore
Allie Kronenberg dished out 38 assists as well for the home team.
As a team, the Garnet Chargers put down 49 kills and made only eight errors on their 88 attempts, the best hitting percentage in a match since hitting .588 (34-4-51) in a three-setter over Hilbert College in 2019 and the best percentage in a conference contest since hitting at a .633 clip (34-3-49) versus Bard College in 2013.
The home team jumped out to an 11-4 lead to begin the match and never allowed RIT (5-12, 0-4 Liberty League) to get closer than three points the rest of the way. McGrath led the squad with five kills in the opening set.
McCarron and McGrath both had a team-leading four kills in the second set, which also saw Union lead wire-to-wire. McGrath had three kills and Pool served up two aces as part of a 6-1 opening stretch, and the lead grew to eight at 12-4 following two McGrath aces and two Pinciaro kills. Union closed on a 7-2 run to finish off the frame, with the last three points coming on the serve of sophomore
Madelyn Frederick.
The Garnet Chargers trailed for the first time in the match at the start of the third set, but an 11-2 run quickly turned a 7-7 tie into an 18-9 advantage. McGrath almost singlehandedly matched RIT's kill total (7-6) in the final frame, as the home team registered 18 of the set's final 22 points overall to finish off the set and the sweep.
Union will return to action tomorrow, taking on AVCA #19 Ithaca College in a Liberty League clash beginning at 2 p.m. at Viniar Athletic Center.
