Tartans Post 2-1 Mark at UAA First Round Robin

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) – The Carnegie Mellon University volleyball team went 2-1 at the University Athletic Association (UAA) first round robin held at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. The Tartans dropped their first match 3-0 to #2 Washington before winning 3-0 and 3-1 against New York University and Brandeis University, respectively. The Cardinal and Gray are now 12-7 on the year and 2-1 in UAA play.

In a 3-0 loss to #2 Washington on Saturday, sophomore Rachel Miller (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Huron) and freshman Ali Celentano (Mission Viejo, Calif./JSerra Catholic) each led with five kills. The Tartans challenged the second-ranked team in game one falling 25-23. The Bears were then able to shut down the Tartans with 25-7 and 25-17 wins for the overall victory. Sophomore Senna Parsa (Bellevue, Wash./Newport) tallied four kills, one block solo and one block assist. Sophomore setter Emily Wright (Fairfax, Va./Chantilly) picked up 17 assists, one service ace and two block assists.

Senior Emily Baddock (Houston, Texas/Dulles) had a team-high six digs while Miller had five and sophomore Ali Nichols (Portland, Ore./Jesuit) collected four. Sophomore Olivia Mora (San Antonio, Texas/St. Mary's Hall) stood tall at the net with one block solo and two block assists.

The Tartans won their second match on Saturday, 3-0, over New York before topping Brandeis Sunday morning 3-1. Individual game scores against NYU were 25-23, 25-21, and 25-23. Celentano led with 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .545 against the Violets, as senior Maddie Rosnick (Fallingston, Pa./Pennsbury) hit .462 with six kills. Miller followed Celentano with 11 kills and also had nine digs defensively. Celentano and Rosnick were alive at the net as the freshman had one block solo and one block assist to the seniors five block assists.

Wright picked up 37 assists in the win with another service ace and three block assists. Nichols collected seven digs while Parsa had two block assists and Mora had one block solo and two block assists.

After winning the first game 25-15 over Brandeis, the Judges took game two 25-23, but the Tartans rebounded to collect wins in games three and four by the scores of 25-12 and 25-20. Celentano once again led the charge with 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .478. Miller and Parsa each tallied nine kills in the win. Celentano added three service aces while Wright and senior Kristin Castellano (New Canaan, Conn./Taft) had two.  Wright ended the weekend with 41 assists against Brandeis.

Baddock recorded 10 more digs while Nichols and Castellano tallied seven.  Rosnick was once again productive at the net, as she recorded one block solo and two block assists.  Mora added three block assists.

The Tartans will be idle until the second round robin for the UAA in Rochester, N.Y., when they face the University of Rochester at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 15.