Benedictine University Mesa women's volleyball earned a straight-set victory over Park-Gilbert on Thursday night at the PEC, defeating the Buccaneers 25-22, 25-15, 25-14.
The opening set was the closest of the night with 12 ties and three lead changes. Benedictine trailed 13-11 before battling back and eventually taking a 20-19 advantage. With the score tied at 21, the Redhawks closed the set on a 4-1 run, capped by a kill from
Marley Cortez to secure the 25-22 win.
Benedictine carried the momentum into the second set. After falling behind 10-7, the Redhawks answered with six consecutive points to take a 13-10 lead. They continued to pull away down the stretch, with
Sophie Drollinger helping lead the attack as Benedictine took the set 25-15. The Redhawks hit .343 in the frame with 14 kills and just two attacking errors.
The Redhawks controlled the third set from the start, jumping out to a 7-1 advantage behind kills from Drollinger and
Camille Collins along with strong work at the net. Benedictine never surrendered the lead and used a late service run from
Kiara Milar to extend its advantage to 22-12 before closing out the sweep, 25-14.
Drollinger led the Redhawks with 14 kills while hitting .250 and added 13 digs, four block assists and a service ace.
BellaRose Branconier finished with seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage to go along with five total blocks, while Collins hit .600 with six kills and no errors. Cortez added six kills and two solo blocks.
Benedictine also received balanced production from its setters.
Taylee Wilson recorded a team-high 20 assists, while Milar added 13 assists and a team-best three service aces.
Adina Ortiz contributed four assists, five digs and two aces, while
Sophie Schonauer finished with nine digs.
As a team, Benedictine finished with 43 kills and a .273 hitting percentage while holding Park-Gilbert to 27 kills and a .110 percentage. The Redhawks also held advantages in service aces, 9-2, and total blocks, 9-4.
