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Heath Nets 1,500th Assist In Women’s Volleyball Split

Heath Nets 1,500th Assist In Women’s Volleyball Split

ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior Taryn Heath (Truxton, N.Y.) concluded Friday's slate of matches with exactly 1,500 career assists as the Wells College women's volleyball team split both ends of a doubleheader to open the Ithaca College Volleyball Invitational. Wells posted a 3-1 loss to Ithaca College before rebounding with a decisive 3-0 win against Utica College - with the split, Wells' overall record stands at 15-7.

With 28 assists against Utica, Heath now boasts exactly 1,500 career assists in a Wells uniform. In her three-year career in a Wells uniform, Heath has appeared in 267 sets and has averaged 5.62 assists per set and has also registered 134 kills. Against the Pioneers, Heath was also a perfect 6-for-6 on attack attempts, picking up six kills on six swings without an error.

Wells opened the tournament against the host Bombers and fell in four sets via scores of 21-25, 25-20, 20-25 and 21-25. Ithaca came into the match with a 15-3 overall record and the Express were able to win their first-ever set against the Bombers with a strong finish to the second set.

Senior Jessilyn Artaho-Aki (Kapa'a, Hawaii) led all Wells players with 11 kills while freshman Eliza Schwab (Hartland, N.Y.) assisted 23 of her team's 40 kills. Defensively, freshman Anuhea Leite-Ah Yo (Hilo, Hawaii) secured 13 digs while Artaho-Aki notched 10 by herself.

With the score tied at 19 aside following a kill from junior Zakarra Butts (Cortland, N.Y.), the Express rattled off six-straight points to take a decisive 24-19 lead. A Wells service error granted Ithaca possession at set point, but Butts hammered home a kill from Schwab to take the set and even the match at one aside.

The Express led 19-16 in the fourth set but the Bombers rebounded to silence the Express down the stretch. A kill by Artaho-Aki set the score at 19-15, but Ithaca outscored Wells by a 10-to-2 margin to take the set and the match. Following a timeout by Wells at 21-21, Ithaca used an Express attacking error before using three-straight kills to win in decisive fashion.

Against Utica in the nightcap, Wells won in straight sets via scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-17. Leite Ah-Yo racked up 11 kills to lead all Wells players while Heath set up 28 of her team's 47 kills. Leite Ah-Yo racked up 14 digs to complete the double-double.

As a team, Wells set the all-time program record for team kills (44), team attacking attempts (121) and team kills (47) in a three-set match. With eight assist blocks as a team, the Express managed to tie the all-time program record in that statistic as well.

Butts and Heath each posted six kills without an error while the latter picked up six kills on six total swings. Junior Vashti Nettles (Long Beach, Calif.) had another strong offensive game for Wells, posting eight kills along with only one error in 14 total attacks for a .500 hitting percentage.

The Express return to action Saturday, Oct. 11 as they face-off against Carnegie Mellon and King's (Pa.) to conclude the Ithaca College Volleyball Invitational starting at 11:00 a.m.