EDINBORO, Pa. — The Edinboro women's volleyball team defeated Salem 3-0 on Tuesday.
The Fighting Scots moved in front early behind kills from
Christina Lockett,
Reilly Parent and
Makayla Neelands, but Salem used a Fighting Scots error and a block by Lily Irvin and Brianna Beyerle to get within 5-4. The Scots answered with an eight-point run to 13-4, with
Anna Saldana serving seven points of the stretch and
Taylor Pucky, Neelands and
Maggie Koster adding kills. After the Tigers broke the run, the Fighting Scots pushed the set to 18-7 on kills by Koster, Parent and Lockett. The lead moved to 22-9 with another Parent kill and a
D'Aira Whitner-Lockett block. Salem picked up late service aces from Lorin Turkdogan and Amari Nunez and got as close as 23-14 on a Brianna Beyerle kill, but a service error brought set point and Koster finished the set at 25-15 off a
Grace Petro assist.
After Salem moved ahead 3-2 in the second, Neelands tied the with a kill and
Faith Schneider followed with an ace, and the Scots pushed the margin to 7-4 on a Salem service error, a block by Koster and Neelands and a Saldana ace. The Tigers pulled within 9-8, but Pucky and Neelands answered with kills, and the Fighting Scots continued to trade points while staying in front behind swings from Whitner, Neelands, Parent and Pucky. Pucky and Parent added consecutive kills to make it 19-13 before Salem cut the score to 20-17 with three straight points, including a Noemi Combi ace. Pucky stopped that run with a kill, Petro served an ace, and the Scots closed the set 25-18 on kills by Parent and Lockett.
The Fighting Scots started the third set with five straight points on Petro's serve, getting kills from Parent and Neelands along with blocks by Whitner and Lockett for a 5-0 lead. Salem cut into the opening margin with a kill by Alexandra Vigneron and a Katie Kennedy ace, but the Scots pushed back to 9-2 on a Parent ace and kills by Whitner and Lockett. After the Tigers made it 9-4, the Fighting Scots won seven of the next eight points, a stretch that included a Schneider ace, a Koster kill, consecutive Saldana aces and a
Josephine Bailey kill for a 17-5 advantage. Salem scored three straight to get to 17-8, but the Scots answered with back-to-back Neelands aces and later closed the set with kills from Parent, Pucky and Neelands.
Neelands led the Fighting Scots with 12 kills and added 11 digs, two service aces and a block assist. Schneider collected a team-high 17 digs and added three assists. Petro finished with a team-best 19 assists, four digs and one service ace. Saldana added 17 assists and led the Scots with four service aces.
The Fighting Scots returns to action on Friday when they host Seton Hill University at 6 p.m.
