Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania volleyball team roared to a pair of victories on Saturday afternoon, sweeping its conference opponent, the Manchester University Spartans, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23 before completing the day with a 25-11, 25-9, 26-24 victory over the Asbury University Eagles at the Beck Center.
The Pioneers improved to 6-1 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play and 18-11 overall by picking up the set of wins with one week remaining in their regular season schedule.
Cate Scheper led the Pioneers on the front line with 24 kills over the two three-set matches as Transylvania displayed an efficient afternoon.
The Pioneers asserted their will over the Spartans from the opening serve, receiving four kills from Kayden Holcomb in the first set to capture a 14-point win. Manchester held tight with Transy in the opening points of the opening set, but Transylvania closed the set on a 10-1 run to set its afternoon in motion.
Transylvania was a well-oiled machine in set two, amassing a .357 attacking percentage behind 16 teram kills. The Pioneer front line gave the Spartans all they could handle as Scheper tallied five kills in the period while Madison Sweeney and Suzanne Klosterman added four kills apiece.
The Pioneers made quick work of Manchester, blasting out to an 8-1 advantage that the Spartans spent the rest of the set whittling away. Sweeney provided another five kills as the Pioneers' offense was too much for the Spartans to handle.
Sweeney and Scheper each finished the match with a co-match high 11 kills. Grace Ward and Makayla Davis combined for 35 assists while Ava Beltsos led the way with 14 digs. Makayla Davis had her second straight game with three aces.
Transylvania picked up against Asbury from where it left off in the Saturday opener, overwhelming thte Eagles with a .500 attacking percentage in the first set off of 14 kills to just two errors. Asbury produced a -.043 attacking percentage in set one as the Pioneers surged ahead.
It was more of the same in the second set as the Pioneers grew a 9-6 advantage into a 22-8 lead. Ward compiled seven of Transy's 12 assists in the set which saw the Pioneers produce a 12 kill to two error ratio.
Transylvania cruised to another hot start in the third set, forging a 17-9 lead before the Eagles fired back to nearly stun the Pioneers. Asbury rallied to force a 21-21 tie and served for set point at 24-23, but Karrington Jackson laid down the hammer with a tying kill to force a 24-24 game. Jackson's kill boosted the Pioneers to victory as the junior came up with another consecutive score and Klosterman finished off the day with a finisher along the right side to secure Transy's second sweep of the day.
Scheper finished with a match-high 13 kills and added two blocks. Beltsos paced the Pioneers with 11 digs while Davis had an all-around night with 17 assists, 10 digs, and two kills. Ward had a match-high 18 assists in the nightcap and added four digs.
Transylvania resumes play on Wednesday, October 27 in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Mount St. Joseph University Lions. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Harrington Center on the campus of Mount St. Joseph.
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