GREENCASTLE, Ind. – The Capital University volleyball team fell 3-0 in their opening match of the day before turning around and defeating Spalding University by an identical 3-0 scoreline to earn their first win of the young season. Capital now sits at 1-2 overall.
The Comets dropped game one of the day to Wheaton College 3-0, despite testing the Thunder to a 29-27 first set. After the pressure from the Comets to start the match, Wheaton settled in and took the following sets 25-12 and 25-20 to comfortably earn the result.
In the first set, Capital extended play thanks to a
Sophia Sobota kill that leveled the score at 25-25. After going ahead on a Wheaton attacking error, Cap dropped two points to their opposition, continuing the set further. Despite all the back and forth, Sobota again landed a kill, tying things at 27-27. Unfortunately, Wheaton would secure the next two points, claiming the set.
Sobota led the offense with 10 kills, while
Larissa Smith followed with eight kills.
Bryn Whitmer finished with 17 assists to lead that category.
Samaree Perkins led the blocking with four swats, while Smith and
Abby Reed finished with two each.
Abby Brunner again led the defensive row with 18 digs. Sobota,
Simone Daniel and Brunner finished with one ace each.
Capital responded with a positive result in the second match of the day, defeating Spalding 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 30-28). The Comets showed great resilience to hold off the opposition, taking each set deep into the scoring.
To start the match, Capital secured their first set win of the season after creating some separation in the final stages of the set. Tied at 20-20, Cap got points behind two Spalding errors and kills from
Abby Reed,
Samaree Perkins and
Sophia Sobota to seal the 25-22 set victory.
Midway through the second set, Cap found themselves trailing 14-7 when a kill from
Larissa Smith sparked a seven point run by the Comets, leveling the score at 14-14. Eventually after some side outs from both teams, Capital finished the set on three straight points thanks to kills by
Ryann Bunyak and
Samaree Perkins and an ace from
Bryn Whitmer.
The third set was much like the second with a lot of back-and-forth scoring, but again, a three-point swing sealed the deal for Cap at 30-28 in the set. First a Spalding attacking error knotted the score at 28-28 before Bunyak and Perkins again landed kills to secure the match win.
In the second match of the day, Perkins led the offense with eight kills and she was followed by
Abby Reed (7) and Sobota, Smith and
Simone Daniel each with six. Whitmer finished with 22 assists, while
Kenadee Winters set up 12. Perkins and
Abby Brunner landed two aces each. Sobota led the back row with 16 digs, and she was followed by Brunner with 14 digs and
Olivia Spillers who had 10 digs. At the net,
Larissa Smith sent back three blocks to lead that category.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
After recording 49 digs in three matches,
Abby Brunner was named to the DePauw Invitational All-Tournament Team. Brunner's 49 digs broke down over nine sets accounted for a 5.44 dig per set average over the weekend.
UP NEXT
Capital will come home to Columbus for their home opener on Wednesday, September 4th at 7 p.m. as they host Earlham College.
