The Oswego State volleyball team split its first day matches at the University of Rochester Invitational. Oswego opened with a 3-2 victory over Hamilton College before dropping a 3-0 contest to Houghton College in the nightcap. With the split, the Lakers are now 6-2 on the season and will open day two at 11 a.m. on Saturday, facing St. John Fisher College. Oswego defeated the Cardinals on Wednesday in five sets.
MATCH ONE – Oswego 3, Hamilton 2 (25-18, 25-11, 21-25, 16-25, 15-6):
For the sixth-straight match, Oswego needed all five sets to decide a winner. After taking the first two sets in fairly easy fashion, Hamilton answered with two set wins in a row. With the match on the line, four Lakers combined for nine kills in the 15-6 victory. Megan Russell led the way on the attack in the decisive set, earning three kills while Kelsey Dillon, Emma Moriarty and Ariel Murawski all had two.
Those four also were the top kill getters in the entirety of the match, with Russell going for 13, Murawski tallying 10, Dillon finishing with nine and Moriarty adding six. Setting the quartet all night were the team of Lauren Edwards and Lindsey Champitto, registering 22 and 14 assists, respectively. Champitto also had the second-most digs for Oswego with 11, trailing only Rachael Ruggaber's team-high 21.
Freshman Alison Sullivan showed the way on defense, combining with a teammate five times for block assists while blocking one Continental attack alone. Russell and Murawski each collected three block assists while Russell added a solo block as well.
MATCH TWO – Houghton 3, Oswego 0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-19):
The Lakers were unable to find their stride against the Highlanders, failing to take a set in a match for the first time in 2015. Moriarty led the squad with nine kills on offense while Russell, Dillon and Kim Cassa turned in six apiece. Edwards and Champitto again shared the setting duties, this time finishing with 17 and 15, respectively.
Ruggaber continued her team-high ways in the digs category, this time ending with 22. Cassa was able to aid her teammate in the effort, digging 19 balls against Houghton. The senior also had the Lakers' only solo block in the match while Dillon and Russell combined for six of Oswego's 10 block assists.
