No. 20 Tartans Win Two on Final Day of Home Invitational

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Behind the hitting of junior Jackie Gibbons (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) and a team defensive display, the 20th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University volleyball team defeated Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, 3-0, and 25th-ranked University of Mount Union, 3-2, to close out the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Invitational on Saturday, September 26. The Tartans are now 18-2 on the year.

In the first match of the day against Pomona-Pitzer, Gibbons hit .345 with 13 kills. Sophomore Eliza Donohue (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) also tallied double-digit kills with 12 for the match. Dishing out 32 assists was junior Emily Newton (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Chadwick School), who also picked up 18 digs. Junior Molly Higgins (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) led the defense with 20 digs while sophomore Hannah Wooten (Hughson, Calif./Hughson) and freshman Sydney Bauer (Allen, Texas/Allen) each had 11 digs.

In a five-set match with nationally ranked Mount Union, the Tartans took the first and second set by 25-20 and 25-21 scores. The third set saw the Purple Raiders rally for a 32-30 victory while they forced a fifth set with a 25-22 set-four win. The fifth and final set was all Tartans as the hosts won 15-6.

Gibbons led the attack with 18 kills and a hitting percentage of .333. She was also big at the net with two block solos and five block assists. Freshman Lauren Mueller (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown SIEM Academy) put down 16 kills and had five blocks assists to aid the offense. Donohue had another double-digit kills performance with 10 while she was also a force at the net with one block solo and three block assists.

Higgins led the back line with 19 digs while Wooten and Bauer each had 18 and Newton and senior Taylor Bell (Shelby Township, Mich./Detroit Country Day School) picked up 14 digs apiece. Newton also tallied 45 assists for the match.

The Tartans will next travel to New York University for the University Athletic Association Round Robin #1 where they'll play Brandeis University, Case Western Reserve University and Emory University over the weekend of October 3 and 4.