Morgan Rentzheimer	Kristin Kirwan	Kindler Norman

SCRANTON, Pa. - It was another impressive pair of outings for the University of Scranton volleyball team on Saturday inside the John Long Center, as the Royals stormed past both Catholic and Goucher in Landmark Conference action.

With the victories, Scranton moved to 20-1 overall on the year and 2-0 in the Landmark Conference. The best start in program history continues to roll along for the Royals, as they have already clinched a 20-win season, the fourth in a row for head coach Jamie Spangler.

Scranton 3, Catholic 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-18) | Box Score
In their opening match of the afternoon, the Royals stormed past perineal Landmark Conference playoff participant Catholic in three sets, dominating the Cardinals from the opening serve.

In each of the first two sets of the victory, Scranton used late rallies to put away Catholic. A 7-3 spurt at the end of the opening game the Royals a five-point victory, while in the second set, a 5-0 run (while up 19-17) put Scranton up for good in what turned out to be a four-point win.

The third and final set of the match saw the Royals open a big lead early and never look back, as an 18-8 Scranton lead was too much for Catholic to come back from.

Overall, it was a balanced effort for Scranton on the attack in the opening match of the day, as senior Morgan Rentzheimer (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) led the way with 10 kills. Juniors Megan Monastra (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) and Kristin Kirwan (Park Ridge, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy) had nine and eight kills, respectively, while freshman setter Kindler Norman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) finished the opening game with 34 assists.

On defense, Kirwan led the team in digs with 14, while senior Catherine Manning (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) led the Royals up front with five block assists. It was a dominating performance up front for Scranton in the win, as they finished with 17 total blocks (one solo) as a team in the three-set victory.

Scranton 3, Goucher 0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-13) | Box Score
Scranton was even more dominant in their second game of the night against Goucher, as the Royals only lost the lead over the three games early in the second set.

In the first and third sets of the match, the Royals put away Goucher with early runs (13-3 in the first game and 16-6 in the third game). In the middle set, Goucher went up on Scranton early (9-5), but the Royals quickly tied the match back up at 12-12, then finished on a 9-3 run to go up 2-0.

The three-set win over Goucher concludes what has been a dominating month for the Royals inside the John Long Center. Overall, the team is a perfect 12-0 at home, winning nine of those matches in three sets. Scranton has also only lost five sets the entire season at home and has now won five straight in three sets overall.  

Overall in the win, Kirwan led the attack with 11 kills, while Rentzheimer finished with eight (Scranton hit .533 as a team in the victory). Norman, once again, went into the 30s on assists with 38, and was tied for the team lead in digs with seven (along with freshman Regina Schetroma (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West)).

The University of Scranton volleyball team returns to action on Friday, as the Royals will travel across the country for a weekend slate of matches at the University of La Verne in La Verne, California. On Friday, the Royals will take on Whittier (at 3 p.m. EST), then UC Santa Cruz (at 8:30 p.m. EST).

--ROYALS--