CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball team tallied two wins over Converse College and Barton College of Conference Carolinas on the opening day of competition in the fifth annual Queens Fall Classic inside Curry Arena on Friday.
The Royals dispatched of Converse 3-0 in the team's first match of the day and followed with a 3-1 win over Barton in the nightcap to improve to 4-0 overall on the young season.
Queens 3, Converse 0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-10)
Queens' opening match of the two-day tournament was handled with ease as the team totaled 11 service aces and committed just six attack errors en route to a .336 hitting percentage. The Royals only committed one attack error across the final two sets of the match.
After ending the first set of play on an 8-0 run, the Royals opened the second set on a 7-1 rally an never trailed in building a two-set lead. Despite Converse keeping the third set close early on, Queens claimed control and cruised to a three-set sweep.
Sophomore
Logan Witt led all players with a career-high 11 kills and a .526 hitting mark to go along with five total blocks, including three of the solo variety. Fellow sophomore
Jordan Proszenyak followed with 10 kills of her own and 12 digs on defense.
Redshirt-freshman
Alexandria Becerra guided the offense with 35 assists and chipped in 18 digs on defense, while sophomore
JayCee Jones and
Casey Tarvin had 12 digs each on defense. Becerra also had three service aces as junior
Mallory Swarts led all players with four aces from the service line.
Queens 3, Barton 1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-16, 25-17)
The Royals' second match of the day proved to be a tougher test as each side was locked in a defensive battle. Queens and Barton combined for 187 total digs. The Royals did have the advantage in two key categories as they were able to register nine total blocks and nine service aces in the match.
Queens and Barton swapped the lead four times in the early going of the first set with the final occurrence coming via a 10-9 lead by the home team. The lead extended to 20-15 on a Tarvin kill before the Royals were able to pull away down the stretch.
After a Bulldog win in the second frame evened the match at 1-all, Barton clung to a 5-3 lead to open the third until three unanswered points put Queens in front by a point. The lead remained at one-point differential midway through the period until another Tarvin kill sparked a 7-0 run for the Royals to build a 21-13 advantage that eventually led to a set win.
Barton once again held an early lead, this time in the fourth set, but five consecutive points put Queens in front by a 7-4 score. The Bulldogs battled back to take an 8-7 lead as the two sides played to five tie score until the Royals broke through and built a 15-12 lead on back-to-back kills from Witt and Tarvin to go along with a Barton error.
Proszenyak was a catalyst in starting a 6-1 run for Queens that included two crucial service aces from Becerra and extended the Royals' lead to 21-14 late in the frame. A
Gabbi Montgomery service ace followed by another Proszenyak kill ended the set and gave Queens its fourth straight win to open the season.
Tarvin paced the offense with 16 kills and registered 14 digs for her second double-double of the year while Becerra had 35 assists and 10 digs as well as three service aces to complete her third straight double-double performance. Proszenyak followed with 12 kills and 15 digs of her own as Montgomery and Witt had seven kills apiece.
Witt also tallied six total blocks, including three more solo blocks, while Montgomery had three total blocks of her own. Jones led the defense with 23 digs, followed by 16 digs from Swarts on the back row.
Queens ends the weekend tomorrow with a 7:00 p.m. first serve against Georgia College in the tournament finale.
