Express Fall 3-0 On Senior Day

AURORA, N.Y. – Freshman outside hitter Katie Curtin (Cassville, N.Y.) led the team with 10 kills to her credit, but the Wells College women's volleyball team posted a 3-0 loss to the Bombers of Ithaca College Wednesday evening at the Frances Tarlton Farenthold Field House. The Express fall to 1-16 overall while the Bombers improve to 7-6 overall following the non-conference tilt.

In a pre-game ceremony, the three members of the Wells College graduating class on the women's volleyball team were honored, including Gina Laungani (St. Maarten), Claire Stevens (Ithaca, N.Y.) and Caitlyn Copfer (Clinton, N.Y.). The lone senior from Ithaca College, Marissa Weil, was also recognized by the Express and the crowd.

The Bombers set down the Express with set scores of 25-11, 25-12 and 25-17. In the first set, Curtin accounted for seven of the team's 11 points, hammering home seven kills alongside only one error to lead the team. Curtin also chipped in a solo block while libero Nicole Loeven (Pawling, N.Y.) recorded five digs defensively in the set. In six total attacks, Weil notched five kills along with a first set service ace to contribute to the victory.

The Bombers recorded a game-high 12 kills in the second set en route to their middle stanza win. Dorothy Rosekranz recorded three kills while Emily Kovach and Dylan Gawinski Stern each tallied three service aces apiece. Freshman Courtney Wein (Martville, N.Y.) led the team with two kills in the middle set while Loeven added to her game total of 15 with four digs.

The Express mounted a rally in the third set, but ultimately lost by a 25-17 margin in the decisive set. Trailing 18-7 to the Bombers, the Express clawed their way back into the match and brought the score to 23-11. From there, Wells recorded six straight points to set the score at 23-17. A Wein kill preceded three unforced errors by the Bombers and two Taryn Heath (Homer, N.Y.) service aces extended the Express rally. Gawinski Stern recorded both a kill and a service ace on match point to secure the three-set victory.

Stevens set a season high mark with two block assists while Curtin also set a season high mark for an Express player with 34 attack attempts in the game. Curtin's 10 kills also rank second on the season, only to freshman Gina Cairns' (Delhi, N.Y.) 11 kills on Tuesday against Keuka College.

Cumulatively in the contest, Curtin posted 10 kills while Heath set up 14 of her team's kills. Defensively, Loeven recorded 15 digs. For the Bombers, Weil posted 13 kills on the evening. Carly Garone assisted 26 of the team's 31 kills while Gawinski Stern posted 10 digs.

The Express return to action Saturday, Oct. 6 as they participate in the second week of North Eastern Athletic Conference Pool Play at Cazenovia College. Wells College faces-off against SUNYIT at 1:00 p.m. and wrap up their day against Cazenovia at 5:00 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Wells College athletic department by "liking" us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/WellsExpress) and subscribing to our Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/WellsExpress).