Sept. 3, 2011
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - A strong weekend for the Lafayette volleyball team was not a perfect one, as visiting Fairleigh Dickinson downed the Leopards, 3-1, in the finale of the Lafayette College Tournament. Lafayette took two out of three in its home tournament, having swept St. Peter's and Rider earlier in the weekend.
The Leopards, who won their first three games of the season for the first time since 1988, fall to 3-1 with their first loss. A road win moves the Knights to 4-2.
Freshman Camissa Beghou led the Leopards with eight kills, while senior Alana Taylor added five on 12 errorless swings. In total, nine players accounted for Lafayette's 31 kills. Sophomore Molly Belcher and junior Sarah Frohnapfel shared setting duties, finishing with 15 and 11 assists, respectively.
Defensively, senior libero Christy Mebust headed the effort in the back row with 21 digs. Junior Alexandra Russo contributed 10 digs, while freshman Melanie Weiss added nine. Seven Leopards had a hand in Lafayette's eight blocks, led by four (two solo) by senior Alana Taylor.
But while the Leopards continued to share the wealth, as they did in their three wins this season, Fairleigh Dickinson looked early and often to Meaghan Wheeler, who hammered home 32 kills on 62 swings with just seven errors for a .403 hitting percentage. She completed a double-double with 12 digs and also notched two aces and a block.
The Leopards had just 11 kills en route to winning game one, but benefited from 12 unforced errors by the Knights. Beghou and junior Kaitlynn Zoller each had three kills in the frame for Lafayette as the Leopards fought through fives to ultimately grab a 25-23 win.
While Fairleigh Dickinson was able to overcome its first-set troubles, the Leopards' hitting woes continued, as Lafayette tallied 20 kills compared to 22 hitting errors over the next three sets as the Knights wrapped up the match with wins of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-19.
addition to Wheeler's career performance, setter Sarah Willey distributed 44 assists to go along with 18 digs for the visitors. Fairleigh Dickinson libero Kelsey Semler led all players with 23 digs.
The 3-1 Leopards are back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 7 as Loyola (Md.) visits Kirby Sports Center at 7 p.m.
