#6 Tartans Close Out Home Weekend with Two 3-0 Victories

#6 Tartans Close Out Home Weekend with Two 3-0 Victories

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The sixth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's volleyball team closed a home weekend 3-0 with two more victories on Saturday, October 21. The Tartans opened the day with a 3-0 win against Cabrini College and finished the afternoon with a 3-0 win against Haverford College. The Tartans advance to 25-1 on the season.

Against Cabrini, senior Eliza Donohue (Lancaster, Pa. / Hempfield) led the offense with 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .357, while junior Sarah Jurgens (Eagan, Minn. / Eagan) knocked down 10 and hit .304. Senior Amanda Thiele (Lakeland, Fla. / George Jenkins) had 17 assists, as sophomore Maia So-Holloway (Oakland, Calif. / Sacred Heart Cathedral) had 16. Donohue had five block assists and sophomore Kayla Yew (San Francisco, Calif. / Sacred Heart Cathedral) had 20 digs, while junior Lauren Mueller (Downingtown, Pa. / Downingtown STEM Academy) had 17 digs.

The Tartans opened with a 25-22 first-set win with Jurgens collecting six kills and Donohue four. In the second set, with the score tied at 22-all, freshman Diana Balta (Media, Pa. / Penncrest) entered and served the final three points which came off kills by senior Heather Holton and Donohue and an attack error by the Cavaliers for the 25-22 win.

The third set was back-and-forth until the Tartans led 24-20. The Cavaliers put down three straight kills before Donohue closed the match with a kill of her own and the 25-23 victory.

The Tartans used blocking power at the net and strong hitting to overpower Haverford with set wins of 25-21, 25-16, and 25-21.

Jurgens registered a career-best 18 kills against the Fords with 11 coming in the deciding third set. She also hit .333 for the match. Donohue hit .444 with 10 kills while sophomore Sahara Aqui (Miramar, Fla. / Archbishop McCarthy) hit .333 with eight kills. So-Holloway fed the hitters with 31 assists and dug up 14 attacks. Yew led the back line with 22 digs while Mueller also tallied 14 digs. At the net, Aqui picked up five block assists while Thiele had four block assists to go with 11 assists.

The Tartans have one home game left on the schedule and will host Juniata College on Tuesday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m.