Women’s Volleyball Splits At SUNY Canton Invitational

CANTON, N.Y. – The Wells College women's volleyball team split their matches on Saturday afternoon on the campus of SUNY Canton, posting a 3-0 victory over Johnson State College and falling to the host Kangaroos by a 3-1 score. Following the day, the Express fall to 1-2 overall on the young season following the non-conference matches.

Against Johnson State, the Express posted a 3-0 victory via set scores of 25-4, 25-15 and 25-4. The 22 point spread in sets one and three are the largest in program history since the first year of NCAA women's volleyball at Wells in 2012. As a team, the Express hit .326 after recording 22 kills alongside only eight errors in 43 total attempts to set a program record in that statistic.

Several other team and individual records fell in the Johnson State game as sophomore Zakarra Butts (Cortland, N.Y.) hammered home 10 of her team's 24 service aces, both an individual and a cumulative team record. On Sept. 1, 2012 in the first modern-day program victory against Green Mountain College, the Express recorded 22 service aces in four sets while Wells was able to eclipse that record in only three sets.

Freshman Meredith Kadjeski (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) recorded seven kills and three errors in 11 total attacks, converting at a .364 clip. She also chipped in six service aces, ranking second on the team. Setters Taryn Heath (Truxton, N.Y.) and Evelyn Abbott (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) combined for 13 of their team's 18 assists while the team recorded eight total digs defensively.

Wells was able to capture a second set victory over SUNY Canton via a 25-21 score, but the Kangaroos took the second match of the day 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 11-25, 16-25). Kadjeski hammered home 15 kills alongside only eight errors in 36 chances, setting a team record with 15 kills in one match. Junior Jessilyn Artaho-Aki (Ka'paa, Hawaii) tallied seven kills in 24 chances while Heath assisted 25 of her team's 33 kills. Defensively, Nadine Pershyn (Buffalo, N.Y.) led all players with 11 digs to her credit.

The Express return to action this Saturday, Sept. 7 as they play host to the 2013 Wells College Invitational. Wells will welcome Utica College and SUNYIT to the Frances Tarlton Farenthold Athletic Wing with the first match starting at 10:00 a.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).