WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL OPENS SEASON WITH A WIN AT KEISER TOURNAMENT
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Olivet Nazarene (IL) (0-1, 0-0) | 16 | 13 | 25 | 0 |
|
Campbellsville (KY) (1-0, 0-0) | 25 | 25 | 27 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Olivet Nazarene (IL) (1-0, 0-0) | 25 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 3 |
|
Florida College (FL) (0-1, 0-0) | 20 | 14 | 25 | 21 | 1 |
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Olivet Nazarene University women's volleyball team opened the 2024-25 athletic calendar with a win as they picked up a split in day one of their season-opening tournament, the Viper Sports Academy Classic, hosted by Keiser University Friday morning in Massimino Court.
The Purple & Yellow Gold jumped out to a dominant 25-20, 25-14, 22-25, 25-21 victory over Florida College in the opener before falling 16-25, 13-25, 25-27 to Campbellsville in the finale.
In the opener, the Tigers broke away in a back-and-forth first set and never looked back to post the four-set win, racking up 48 kills against just 15 errors for an impressive .270 hitting percentage.
Leading 20-19 late in the first, ONU wrapped off five of the last six points to claim the set. The Tigers capitalized off two Falcon errors before newcomer Analiese Fredin dished it up to freshman Tatum Wade for a kill. Sara Serafimova ripped off a service ace to put the Tigers at set point while Fredin and Ella Johnson teamed up for a block to claim the opening set.
Another late run lifted the Tigers to a win in the second set. With ONU trailing 12-10 midway through the set, Kaitlyn Kolb hammered down a kill to get the ball to Alyssa Russow who went on the secure three consecutive service aces to give the Tigers the lead. This led to ONU on a 15-2 scoring run to claim the set.
Florida College (0-1) rallied back from an early deficit to pick up a win in the third set, but the Tigers returned the favor in the fourth to claim the set and the match.
Kolb and Ava Smith led the team with nine kills each, while Halle Nicholas racked up eight kills on a sparkling .412 hitting clip. Sabrina Sanif and Fredin both finished with six kills, with the latter leading the match with 35 assists. Serafimova and Breanna Lamie both tallied double-digit digs with 19 and 11, respectively.
The momentum did not carry into the second match of the day, however, falling to their Tiger counterpart in Campbellsville (Ky.) in straight sets to round out day one of the Viper Sports Academy Classic.
ONU's best chance to take a set was in the finale. After a back-and-forth beginning led to a 16-15 deficit, a Campbellsville service error led to back-to-back service aces off the hand of Addison Schmidt. A kill from Fredin followed by an opposing attack error had the Purple & Yellow Gold up 20-16. But a late rally from from CU allowed them to steal set and seal the match.
Nicholas led the attack with nine kills. Fredin racked up eight kills of her own to go with her team-leading 16 assists. Serafimova recorded a second-consecutive double-digit dig performance with 11.
The ONU Tigers will round out their appearance in the Viper Sports Academy Classic on Saturday with matches against Southeastern (Fla.) and Keiser.
--ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu
