SPRINGIFLED, Mass. – Bentley volleyball defeated D'Youville 3-2 and Molloy 3-1 on Saturday to complete a 4-0 sweep of the IVHOF East Region Clash.
In Saturday's first match against D'Youville, junior
Sophia Poehlein tied her career-high in kills with 23 to lead the Falcons to a five-set win (25-27, 25-27, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9). Sophomore
Katelyn Rutledge set a career-high mark in kills with 15, and junior
Tory Vitko reached 50 assists for the third time in her career.
After dropping the first set to D'Youville the Falcons stormed back to win the next two frames. The fourth set was tied up, 6-6, when Bentley went on a 6-1 run. Poehlein put away two kills and two aces during the run that gave the Falcons a 12-7 lead.
However, D'Youville answered back with a 9-2 run for a 19-17 advantage. Three straight kills by
Tory Vitko and Poehlein gave the Falcons a 20-19 edge, but D'Youville forced the fifth set by closing out the fourth with a 5-2 run.
The Falcons left little doubt in that fifth frame by racing out to a 9-1 lead. Pohlein and
Aaliyah Price Gooden each recorded a couple of kills during the run, and
Sasha Luzina served up an ace.
Poehlein and Price Gooden each came away with seven blocks in the win.
Bentley attacked at a .302 clip, marking its third match in the last four contests hitting over .300.
The Falcons won the second match against Molloy 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 25-21 to complete the tournament sweep.
Lulu Pavan had a match-high 13 kills and
Elena Coban and
Yasmin Tonon both notched double-digit kills with 11 each. Coban added six block assists.
In the first set, Bentley overcame an early 6-2 deficit with an 8-0 run and didn't trail the rest of the way.
The third set again saw them overcome an early deficit with a lengthy run. Trailing 12-5, a 14-2 run erased that deficit and turned into a 19-14 lead. That run included eight consecutive points in one stretch.
Molloy then pulled to within 22-20, but the Falcons won the final three points to close out the set.
The fourth set saw Bentley race out to a 9-1 lead, but the Lions clawed back and got to within one point later in the set at 19-18. After the teams traded points back-and-forth for a 22-21 Bentley lead, they won the final three points to close out the set and match. Pavan and Coban had kills in the final stretch.
The tournament sweep improved Bentley's record to 6-6 on the season. They next play on September 17 at Mercy.
