ELKINS, W.Va. — The Fairmont State volleyball team swept Davis & Elkins 3-0 on Tuesday at McDonnell Center, winning 25-7, 25-15, 25-11. The Falcons hit .289 with 36 kills and five blocks while holding the Senators to 10 kills and a minus-.120 hitting percentage.
The Falcons controlled the first set in a 25-7 win, separating early and closing with another extended scoring stretch. After scoring the first three points, the Falcons answered the Senators' first point with seven in a row, including a Grace Devall service ace, an
Averi Martin block and Martin's kill from
Belle DeVall to make it 10-1.
Kailyn Connelly put down kills for 12-2 and 16-4, and
Elena Thompson later answered a Senators point with a kill for 18-5. From there,
Belle DeVall's serve carried the Falcons through six straight service points, with Martin blocks on back-to-back attack errors followed by kills from Thompson,
Natalie Zemba and Martin as the lead reached 24-5. After the Senators scored twice at set point, Martin's kill from
Belle DeVall ended the set at 25-7.
The Falcons overcame a 2-0 start by the Senators with seven straight points and carried that early separation into a 25-15 second-set win.
Baylie Ostvig opened the response with a kill from
Belle DeVall,
Josie Nobbe added a service ace and the Falcons also got kills from Thompson, Nobbe and Ostvig during the run to move ahead 7-2.
The Senators later narrowed the set to 13-11 behind back-to-back Braelyn Brenneman aces, but the Falcons answered with kills from Ostvig and Thompson and a Zemba block to rebuild the margin. Leading 16-12, the Falcons won seven of the next eight rallies with points that included kills from Zemba, Thompson,
Alexa Martin and Connelly, then finished the set when Martin put down a kill from
Zoe Ringer for the final point.
After the Senators opened the third set with a service ace, the Falcons answered with nine straight points, with Thompson serving eight in a row as Nobbe put down two kills and
Averi Martin added a block to help the visitors move ahead 9-1. The Falcons kept control through the middle of the set, including Ringer's service turn that featured kills from Connelly and Nobbe as the lead reached 15-3.
The Senators later moved from 18-8 to 18-10, but the Falcons responded by winning the next six points, starting with a sideout on an attack error before
Ashton Henrich served the margin to 24-10. After a Senators point at 24-11,
Ava Strange finished the set with a kill from
Addison Veigel for a 25-11 Falcons win.
Thompson led the Falcons with nine kills while hitting .364 and adding four digs.
Averi Martin finished with five kills on a .500 hitting percentage and recorded four solo blocks.
Belle DeVall posted a team-high 13 assists with five digs. Grace Devall collected a team-best 12 digs and added three assists and one service ace.
Fairmont State (15-4, 4-0) will face Point Park University on Friday, October 2 part of Homecoming weekend. Match time is slated for 3:00 p.m.
