Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - It took four tight, hard-fought sets, but the Edgewood College volleyball team has no complaints after knocking off Benedictine University 3-1 for their first Northern Athletics Conference victory of the season. Edgewood College pulled out the win by scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-22 and 25-23.

The Edgewood College team showed some early season struggles in close sets, but tonight's match may be a sign that the young Eagles are growing up. In set one, the Edgewood College (5-15, 1-4 NAC) rolled out to an early 7-1 lead, but a late Benedictine run tied the match at 23. Freshman Abbi Schultz subbed onto the court and setter Hannah Williams immediately found her for a kill and a sideout. Fellow freshman Aryn Wellnitz then finished off the first set with a kill of her own.

Set two went to Benedictine (9-11, 3-2 NAC) as sophomore outside hitter Kayla Leyden recorded three of her match-high 20 kills.

In the third stanza, a Kim Paskey kill gave Edgewood College a 23-19 lead. However, Benedictine scored three straight kills to cut the margin to 23-22. Edgewood College never panicked and instead looked for the leader Paskey again, who broke the string with another kill from the hands of Williams. After a Benedictine timeout, Ashley Averkamp ended the third set with an unassisted kill off a wayward Benedictine pass.

In the fourth set, Edgewood College led from 2-2 for the rest of the set, despite the fact that Benedictine tied the score on five separate occasions. At 24-22, Edgewood College brought Kristin Manske in to serve, but Benedictine responded with a kill from Sara Olszta. However, Edgewood College returned the favor with a kill from Wellnitz to end the match.

Paskey and Schultz each finished with 10 kills, with Schultz racking up a team-high .250 attack percentage. Paskey continued to dominate the net with one solo block and five assisted blocks. Williams delivered 23 assists and libero Kim Lueck had a team-high 19 digs.

Edgewood College returns to action tomorrow at noon for another NAC match with Aurora University.