Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
La Salle
Bucknell Volleyball Comes Back in Four-Set Win at La Salle
8/25/2012 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2012
PHILADELPHIA - Bison volleyball got the start it was looking for as it opened its season with a 3-1 win over La Salle at the La Salle Invitational on Saturday afternoon. A balanced Bucknell attack that included solid contributions from rookies and a career-high 16 digs from veteran Morgan Mientus (Chicago, Ill./Saint Ignatius College Prep) gave the Orange and Blue the 19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-15 victory. Bucknell (1-0) now turns its attention to Manhattan for its second match of the day set for 5 p.m. at Tom Gola Arena.
"I think after three long weeks of preparation, to be able to go against somebody else with a different color shirt on was a pretty exciting thing for our team," said head coach Cindy Opalski after the match. "Overall I really like our team chemistry. I think we're playing well together.
"We did a good job of eliminating unforced errors, being smart, being aggressive when we needed to and being really in more of a termination mindset when we needed to score a point," Opalski continued. "There were a lot of significant statistical contributions from 13 people, so that's exciting."
Leading the way offensively was freshman Claire Healy (Tiburon, Calif./Saint Ignatius College Prep), who finished with 10 kills in her debut. Six of those kills came in the third set to help Bucknell take a 2-1 set lead. The opening frame had gone in favor of La Salle (0-1), which took advantage of a 20-8 run down the stretch to take an early lead in the match.
Bucknell then battled back in the second set, taking its first lead at 13-12 as the Explorers struggled with offensive consistency. After hitting .333 in the first set, La Salle saw its percentage drop to -.065 in the second. The home team rebounded in the third, again hitting better than .200, but Bucknell also saw its attack percentage improve. The Bison hit .310 in the third set behind Healy's six kills.
After taking the set lead, Bucknell was able to cruise through to the finish with its most convincing performance in the fourth set. The Bison never trailed in the frame and ultimately closed it out with a 10-point advantage.
Although Bucknell and La Salle had last played in 2008, Saturday marked the Bison's fourth consecutive win over the Explorers. It was also Bucknell's second consecutive season-opening victory as it had defeated Fordham in five sets last September.
On the defensive side, Mientus led Bucknell with 16 digs after switching from the outside hitter position to the libero role this fall. The junior bested her previous career best by three digs. She also added three kills and two aces.
"We did a really good job of funneling a lot of balls to Morgan Mientus, who was a position change," said Opalski. "She really stepped up to the challenge with 16 digs."
As a team, Bucknell won the battle of the blocks. The Bison finished with 9.0 compared to 4.0 for the Explorers. Senior Kebah Edoho (Odenton, Md./Arundel) led all players with five, while freshman Karen Campbell (Chesapeake, Va./Cape Henry Collegiate) added four. Senior Kat Tauscher (Washington, D.C./National Cathedral School) and rookie Meghan Wentzel (San Anselmo, Calif./The Branson School) each registered 17 assists.
La Salle's Samantha Tulskie led all players with 15 kills, and Rachel Melich had 19 assists. Breanna Mazalewski added 18 digs.
Bucknell will return to action tonight against Manhattan. The Jaspers have a 3-2 edge in the series. The two squared off last fall with Manhattan taking a straight-sets win. Live stats for the 5 p.m. match will be available at GoExplorers.com.
