COLUMBUS, Ohio – On Friday evening, the Capital University volleyball team opened up play at the 2021 Pam Briggs Classic -- a tournament in which they are co-hosting with Otterbein.
The tournament honors the longtime Capital volleyball coach, Pam Briggs who led the program to their only OAC Tournament and Regular Season Titles in her time at the helm. She also guided Cap to two NCAA Tournament appearances while serving as the head coach.
In Capital's opening match of the 2021 installment of the tournament, the team fell via a 3-0 scoreline to visiting Case Western Reserve. Capital remained competitive all night long, but could not separate themselves from the Spartans, coming out on the wrong end of each set. CWRU took the sets in order, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19.
Capital in fact out-hit Case Western Reserve by collecting 36 kills as opposed to their 35. The Spartans definitely reaped the rewards of the CU unforced errors to make the difference on the scoreboard.
Statistically speaking, Cap was led by a pair of nine-kill nights from the reliable
Delanie Nahikian and middle-hitter,
Grace Grundy. Grundy hit at an impressive .538 clip en route to her nine kills.
Caleigh Hamby chipped in with six kills of her own. Freshman setter,
Jordyn Hoffman led the team with 17 assists, while
Jenay Kocsis tallied 14 helpers on the night. Kocsis also contributed 10 digs defensively.
Erin O'Connell led the team with 13 digs. Nahikian (2) and
Miranda Jordan (1) combined for three blocks on the night.
For CWRU, Jennifer Ngo led all players with 12 kills, while Alyssa Blessinger had a game-high 20 digs. Sara Rogers dished out 27 assists. Ngo was a force in the blocking game as well, swatting back five blocks on the night.
Capital will look to rebound with two games tomorrow at The Capital Center against Geneva and Hanover. First serve in game one is at 10 a.m. Concurrently with the Capital games, Mount Union will play Geneva and Hanover on a separate court in the arena. Spectators will be able to find a limited amount of seating in the gym, but primary and recommended seating will be in the upper section of the Capital Center Arena.
