Women’s Volleyball Halves Saturday Double Dip

MARCY, N.Y. – The Wells College women's volleyball team recorded a victory and a loss to conclude the first North Eastern Athletic Conference Crossover Weekend on Saturday. Wells posted a five set victory over the College of St. Elizabeth before falling to the Chargers of Lancaster Bible College in straight sets on the campus of SUNY Institute of Technology. Following the matches, Wells sports an overall record of 2-10 and a league mark of 1-2.

Wells and St. Elizabeth traded sets (25-17, 23-25, 25-13, 18-25) until the decisive fifth set where the Express recorded a 15-13 victory. Junior Jessilyn Artaho-Aki (Ka'paa, Hawaii) led all Wells players with 14 digs, racking up a .220 hitting percentage after committing only five errors in the match. Sophomore Taryn Heath (Truxton, N.Y.) assisted 31-of-42 kills for the Express while Artaho-Aki chipped in 23 digs defensively, setting a single game program record.

Defensively, Artaho-Aki eclipsed the previous record of 20 recorded most recently by Nicole Loeven (Pawling, N.Y.) against Cobleskill St. on Oct. 7, 2012. The team collectively recorded 87 digs defensively, shattering the modern day mark of 62 digs also set on Oct. 7, 2012 against the Fighting Tigers. As a team, Wells recorded six block assists to set a program record in that statistic.

Today's match was the first in modern day program history to see two players record a double-double as Artaho-Aki posted 23 digs and 14 kills while freshman Meredith Kadjeski (Trumansburg, Pa.) hammered home 12 kills and 10 digs against the Soaring Eagles.

For St. Elizabeth, Nicole Morera and Subhana Wrights each posted 12 kills while Katie Cooper and Morera each racked up 17 assists. Defensively, Amy Cooper led the way with 15 digs to her credit while Ayesha Brannon and Katie Cooper ranked second with 12 digs.

Wells fell to Lancaster Bible in straight sets via scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-15. Kadjeski led all Express players with seven kills while Heath assisted 12 of her team's 19 kills. Defensively, Artaho-Aki posted 11 digs to bring her day's total to 34. Loeven also reached nine digs while Heath and libero Nadine Pershyn (Buffalo, N.Y.) each recorded eight apiece.

Rachel Olson led all Chargers with 10 kills and a positive hitting percentage of .259 in 27 total attacks. Hannah Metzler posted a team-leading 19 assists and 18 digs. Joanna Butala racked up seven service aces against the Express, leading the team in that category. Butala's strong net front presence also earned her two solo blocks.

The Express return to action Saturday, Sept. 28 as they face-off against York (N.Y.) and D'Youville on the campus of SUNY Institute of Technology beginning at noon. 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).