Tartans Split Weekend Action at Juniata

(HUNTINGDON, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's volleyball team split four matches at the Juniata College Invitational on Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22. On Friday the Tartans fell to #23 Salisbury University 3-0 before defeating Franklin & Marshall College 3-0. The team wrapped up action on Saturday with a 3-0 win over FDU-Florham and a 3-1 defeat to #15 Juniata.

Against Salisbury, junior Senna Parsa (Bellevue, Wash./Newport) led with eight kills as sophomore Ali Celentano (Mission Viejo, Calif./JSerra Catholic) tallied seven. Junior Emily Wright (Fairfax, Va./Chantilly) dished out 12 assists and picked up five digs. Juniors Ali Nichols (Portland, Ore./Jesuit) and Rachel Miller (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Huron) had seven and six digs, respectively, while junior Olivia Mora (San Antonio, Texas/Saint Mary's Hall) had four block assists.

In the win over a Franklin & Marshall, Parsa led with 15 kills and nine digs. Celentano finished with seven kills while Wright had 17 assists and freshman Emily Lawlis (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands College Park) tallied 10 assists. Nichols picked up nine digs as Wright totaled seven and Miller totaled six digs to go with two service aces. Mora again picked up four block assists.

"Franklin & Marshall was a nice team and it was a good win for us," head coach Kim Kelly said.

In Saturday's win against FDU-Florham, Parsa again had a big game. The junior finished with 10 kills, four service aces and 10 digs. Celentano picked up eight kills to go with three block assists while Wright dished out 19 assists. Lawlis assisted on 11 points for the Tartans and had two service aces. Nichols led with 15 digs as Miller had 13. Mora was tall at the net with one block solo and two block assists.

The Tartans battled tough against #15 Juniata winning game one and pushing game four to a 27-25 score.

"Juniata was a tight match and we played every point," said Kelly. "We had the lead a couple times in the fourth game. It was just a really well played match."

Mora led the offense with 10 kills and turned away one Juniata kill attempt while assisting on two other blocks. Parsa collected eight kills, 15 digs, one block solo and two block assists and was named to the all-tournament team. Celentano finished the game with eight kills, one block solo and two block assists while freshman Rebecca Wolfinger (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley) had six kills and three block assists. Wright picked up 18 assists and two service aces as Lawlis tallied 11 assists and 19 digs. Nichols led with 20 digs while Miller picked up another 11.

"This was a good tournament for us going into University Athletic Association play," Kelly said. "We had a good showing all weekend and gave us good preparation for next week's round robin at Chicago."

The Tartans will host their final dual match of the year on Wednesday, September 26 at 7:00 p.m. against Waynesburg College before heading to Chicago for four matches over a two-day span.