Tartans Split on First Day of UAA Championship Tournament

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University volleyball team (22-10) split on the first day of the University  Athletic Association (UAA) Championship, hosted by Carnegie Mellon.  The Tartans defeated New York University 3-0 and then later dropped to No. 6 Emory University 3-0.

In the first match of the day against NYU, Carnegie Mellon won in straight sets 26-24, 25-20, and 25-11.

The Tartans were led on the attack by freshman outside hitter Heather Holton (Haslett, Mich./Haslett), who recorded 13 kills.  With nine kills each, senior Ali Celentano (Mission Viejo, Calif./JSerra Catholic) and sophomore Jackie Gibbons (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) also added to the Tartans offensive strike.  Leading the team in assists was sophomore setter Emily Newton (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) with 23 followed by freshman Amanda Thiele (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins) who added 15 assists. 

Defensively, Celentano had 13 digs and sophomore libero Molly Higgins (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) added 10.  Freshman Eliza Donohue (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) held down the fort at the net recording three solo blocks and assisting with five for the Tartans.

In the second match of the day, the Tartans fell in three straight sets 25-16, 25-12, and 25-20 to Emory.  The offensive was led by Holton and Celentano who had seven and six kills, respectively.  Newton added 20 assists in the setback. Higgins recorded12 digs to lead the Tartans defensively.

The Tartans will be competing in the third-place match tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. in Skibo Gymnasium on the campus of Carnegie Mellon against No. 5 Washington University.