Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Morgan State (Morgan State Tournament)
Bucknell Volleyball on Target on Day One of Morgan State Invitational
9/10/2004 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2004
Bucknell vs. Morgan State Boxscore // Bucknell vs. St. Francis Boxscore
BALTIMORE, Md. - Jackie Leahy registered 29 kills in two matches and the Bucknell offense turned in a stellar hitting display en route to a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Morgan State and St. Francis (N.Y.) on day one of the Morgan State Invitational on Friday at Hill Fieldhouse.
Bucknell's senior co-captains led the way in a tournament-opening 30-18, 30-23, 30-23 decision over Morgan State. Leahy paced the offense with 22 kills - just two shy of the Bears' team total - while Carolyn Dougherty finished with a match-high 22 digs.
The Bison hit .270 as a team against Morgan State (1-6), with freshman Jenna Henderson chipping in nine kills and six services aces. Courtney Clark had six kills without an error, while setter Jessica Le logged 42 assists along with six digs and four aces.
Esther Boyd led Morgan State with seven kills.
For the second straight match Bucknell (3-2) raced out of the blocks against St. Francis (0-4), steamrolling the Terriers 30-10 in the opening set. The tilt evened up in games two and three, but using every available player the Bison prevailed 31-29 and 30-23.
Again Bucknell's attackers were on target, hitting .370 as a team while committing only 11 errors in 108 attempts. The Bison hit a whopping .471 in game one, with 17 kills against only one error. The 30-10 margin was Bucknell's most lopsided game since the NCAA adopted its current rally scoring system.
Chelsea Robertson finished with a team-high nine kills and seven different Bison logged at least five put-aways. Henderson and Clark (who hit .481 with only one error on the day) tallied eight apiece, while Leahy had seven in just two games. Becky fisher added six kills without a miscue and added four aces, while Dougherty again led the back row unit with 10 digs.
Esther Lima and Malgorzata Szszka led the Terriers with nine kills each.
"We had a solid all-around performance today," said head coach Cindy Opalski, who now has 298 career victories. "We started strong in both matches and maintained an excellent tempo."
The Bison play twice more in Baltimore on Saturday, facing Princeton at 12 p.m. and Wagner at 4 p.m.
