MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State Women's Volleyball team advanced in North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) post season play on Tuesday night after defeating Keuka College 3-0 in quarterfinal action.
The Mustangs started strong in the first set, jumping out to an early 10-2 behind strong serving performances from Kim Dunkleman (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Amelia Baratier (Liverpool, N.Y.). Despite the Wolves calling a time out in an attempt to slow the action, Morrisville continued to roll when the rotation came back around to Dunkleman. The junior setter served the Mustangs to seven straight points for the 25-9 first set win.
The second set was much of the same as the Mustangs' serve forced the Wolves out of their offensive rhythm. For the second straight set, Keuka recorded a negative hitting percentage, while Morrisville committed just six hitting errors. The Mustangs picked up the second set win 25-13.
Down two sets to zero, the Wolves put the pressure back on the Mustangs in the middle of the third set as they rallied back from nine points down to just five. Each team put together long rallies as the defenses began to shine, turning away several attack attempts. However, Morrisville would not let Keuka get closer than five points, ultimately taking the third set 25-20 for the three set win.
In addition to leading the Mustangs on the serve, Baratier led Morrisville offensively putting away 13 kills while committing just one attack error. Megyan Merrill (Millport, N.Y.) recorded nine kills and Helena Hanes (Brockport, Pa.) picked up eight. Dunkleman picked up 26 assists orchestrating the offense.
Defensively, Samantha Wolf (Liverpool, N.Y.) and Merrill tallied 17 digs, while Dunkleman added 16.
With the win, the Mustangs move into the NEAC Championship weekend. After quarterfinal action wraps up this evening, the four remaining teams (two from the North Division and two from the South Division) will be re-seeded and head to the new top seed's home site. The NEAC Office will release that information when its available.
Morrisville State College's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2018 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2018 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.
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