Sept. 4, 2010
Fairleigh Dickinson Box Score St. Peter's Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette volleyball team swept past Fairleigh Dickinson in the morning session of the 2010 Lafayette College Tournament on Saturday, and then went the distance in a thrilling five-set victory over St. Peter's in the weekend finale. Senior co-captain Kayly Elmer had 33 kills in the two contests, including a double-double against the Knights. Sophomore setter Sarah Frohnapfel had double-doubles in both contests.
With the pair of victories, Lafayette is now 2-3 in the young 2010 season. Fairleigh Dickinson closes out the weekend tournament with a 2-6 mark, while the Peahens from St. Peter's now stand at 2-4.
Sophomore Kaitlynn Zoller hit at an outstanding .519 clip in the morning match, pounding 15 kills on 27 attempts with just one error. Zoller added 12 finishers in the nightcap, with senior co-captain Katrina Racibarskas also adding a dozen kills against the Peahens. Junior Alana Taylor had 16 kills in the two matches while hitting at a team-best rate of .371.
Sophomore setter Sarah Frohnapfel averaged 11.38 assists per frame over eight sets of action, doling out 91 helpers in total. Every Leopard chipped in defensively, with freshman Mackenzie Larsen, Frohnapfel and sophomore Alexandra Russo tallied double-digit digs in both matches. Elmer reached double figures with 11 digs against Fairleigh Dickinson. In total, five Lafayette players had 10 or more digs against St. Peter's: Larsen (21 digs), sophomore Fiorella Bellini (13), junior Christy Mebust (13), Frohnapfel (11) and Russo (10).
Mebust also landed six aces to pace a strong Lafayette serving game. The Leopards dropped in 19 aces on the day for an average of 2.38 per frame. Frohnapfel and Russo each had four aces, Racibarskas notched three and Elmer and Larsen picked up one apiece.
Against Fairleigh Dickinson, set one was the most competitive of the three as the teams remained within three points of each other up to a 22-22 deadlock. Lafayette won the next three tallies at that point, capped by a Mebust ace, to take the first set by a 25-22 mark.
Lafayette fell behind in set two courtesy of a 8-0 Knights' run, but knotted the score at 17-17 and never looked back en route to a 25-20 win. With a win just one set away, the Leopards never trailed in the third set, using two separate 5-0 spurts to claim a 25-16 win.
Runs were the name of the game is set one against St. Peter's as well, with the Leopards using two 4-0 runs as well as a 5-0 spurt to claim an early advantage with a 25-16 win.
But while long runs had been the Leopards' friends all day long, the home team fell victim to an extended scoreless stretch in set two. Shannon Doheny served up four aces in an 8-0 run to give the Peahens a 19-11 edge. Lafayette would respond with a six-point run, but the deficit proved insurmountable as St. Peter's evened the match with a 25-21 victory.
Set three was the biggest blowout of an otherwise tight match; the Leopards led by as many as 14 in the frame en route to a 25-13 win. St. Peter's only scored on its own serve on five occasions, with Lafayette siding them out at a 64% clip.
Despite claiming a 6-0 advantage in set four, the Leopards were unable to put the Peahens away. After the initial six-point stretch, which was fueled by Frohnapfel's tough serves, the Leopards would only score on their serve twice more. St. Peter's never put together a spurt of more than four straight points, but the Peahens chiseled away at the lead and eventually broke away to grab a 25-21 decision and send the match into a deciding fifth set.
After the teams played to a 4-4 deadlock, the Leopards came out on top in six straight rallies to grab a 10-4 advantage. The Peahens would climb within two points at 12-10, but a Racibarskas kill sealed the match with Lafayette earning a 15-11 win.
On the heels of five matches in the last six days to open 2010, the Leopards will take the three days off from competition. Lafayette returns to the court at Kirby Sports Center on Wednesday to challenge visiting Coppin State at 7 p.m.
