SCRANTON, Pa. – Senior Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) and sophomore Deanna Whelpley (Congers, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) both tallied 17 kills apiece as The University of Scranton volleyball team (8-7, 3-0 Landmark) rallied from an early deficit in a 3-1 victory over the Susquehanna River Hawks (5-12, 1-2 Landmark) in a conference match on Friday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.
Scranton 3, Susquehanna 1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-15)
The two teams traded points for a majority of the first set and the Royals used three straight points to take an 18-16 lead, but Susquehanna responded by taking the next five points and then took four of the final five in the 25-21 win.
Scranton came out firing in the second set and led 7-0 following a River Hawks' set error. From there, the visitors battled back to even things at 15 apiece before the Royals took the next four points and never trailed again in the 25-18 victory as freshman Cammi Quirk (Oakland, N.J./Ridgewood) closed things out with a kill.
In the third set, the Royals once again grabbed an early lead as a Whelpley kill made it 9-3 in the early stages, but Susquehanna then took the next five points to cut the lead to 9-8 and eventually tied things at 16-all. Sophomore Gwen Koester (Merrick, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) came through with a kill to ignite a stretch where the Royals recorded seven of the next nine points and junior Sophia Hadjiyane (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn) delivered a kill of her own in the 25-21 win.
Head coach Jamie Spangler's team proved to be dominant for much of the fourth set and tallied 11 of the first 12 points including four kills by Whelpley. Susquehanna was unable to get any closer than seven the rest of the way and the Royals closed out the match with consecutive kills by Whelpley and junior Erin Keaveney (Collegeville, Pa./Villa Maria Academy).
Margolies and Whelpley led the Royals with 17 kills apiece, while Hadjiyane tallied 12. Quirk registered 26 assists in the victory and junior Gianna Detorie (Rumford, R.I./Bishop Feehan) added 17 of her own.
Whelpley also notched a team-high 19 digs to lead five Royals in double figures including sophomore Maddie Forry (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) with 14, sophomore Camryn Hoffman (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) with 13, Margolies with 12 and junior Maddie Orth (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) with 11.
The 17 kills for Whelpley marked a new career-high, surpassing her previous career-best of 16 that had been set in a victory over Marymount (Va.) last weekend.
Scranton looks to remain unbeaten in Landmark play on Saturday afternoon with a match against Elizabethtown slated to get underway at 4 p.m. at the John Long Center.
--ROYALS--
