Sept. 1, 2010
Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Lafayette volleyball team got kills from eight different players on Wednesday night at Howard, but the Leopards were unable to get by the host Bison, who took a 3-1 victory. Senior co-captain Katrina Racibarskas turned in a well-rounded effort for Lafayette with six kills, two solo blocks and five service aces.
The Leopards now sit at 0-2, while Howard improved to 1-3 with its first win of the season.
Senior co-captain Kayly Elmer, who had a double-double in Monday's season opener against St. Francis (N.Y.), led the Leopards once again with eight kills. Freshman Karissa Ciliento hit .500, registering five kills on 10 errorless swings, and junior Alana Taylor added three finishers. Sophomore setter Sarah Frohnapfel ran the offense and dished out 18 assists.
Defensively, junior libero Christy Mebust championed the effort with a team-best eight digs. At the net, Taylor had five blocks (three solo) while Racibarskas and junior Andrea Duvall each got a piece of two blocks.
Just as they did on Monday night, the Leopards took set one from their opponents with a 25-17 victory. Racibarskas landed two aces in the midst of an early six-point run that gave Lafayette the advantage at 7-3. After a two-point spurt from the Bison, the Leopards regained the momentum on a block from Taylor and Russo and never trailed the rest of the way.
Set two was highlighted by three straight aces from Racibarskas, but Howard had already built an 8-2 lead at that point. The Bison absorbed the flurry of strong serves and held a multiple-point edge for the remainder of the set en route to evening the match with a 25-21 set-two win.
Howard was able to maintain its momentum for the rest of the match, as the Leopards failed to put together more than two consecutive points in the final two sets. The Bison closed out the contest with set wins of 25-17 and 25-8.
Tosin Elebute (14 kills) and Taylor Johnson (11) led the Howard offense, while Jiyana Brown landed a match-best six service aces. In total, the teams combined for 18 aces, with the Bison notching 11 aces to Lafayette's seven.
The Leopards return home this weekend to host a trio of New Jersey teams at the Lafayette College Tournament. Princeton will challenge the Leopards on Friday at 6 p.m., with Fairleigh Dickinson (10 a.m.) and St. Peter's (5 p.m.) on tap for Saturday at Kirby Sports Center.
