RICHMOND, Ind. – The Earlham College volleyball team won the opening match of the Dr. Bill Brandes Memorial Invitational with a sweep of Austin College on Friday evening in Druley Performance Gym.
Caylee Brandes led the Quakers with 13 kills and a .205 attack percentage and two blocks. The senior also tallied her 1,000th career kill in the first set.
Sadie Mae Calma tallied 11 kills with a .304 attack percentage, 18 assists and two blocks. Freshman
Ciara Logan reached double-digit kills for the fourth straight match with 10 kills.
Emma Ledford dished out a team-high 18 assists.
Madison Bizjak led the back row with 21 digs.
Grace Gwin brought in 13 digs with an ace.
The Quakers jumped out to a 10-4 lead early in set one, but the Kangaroos worked the score back to a 14-13 Quaker lead. Earlham then went on a 7-2 run to lead 21-15, but Austin again fought back with a 6-1 run. Earlham ended the set on three straight points for a 25-21 win.
Trailing 5-4 in set two, Earlham scored seven straight points to lead 11-5. The Kangaroos then got hot with an 8-0 run to lead 13-11. After the Quakers tied the set at 18 from a bad set by Austin, the Kangaroos scored five straight to lead 13-18. Earlham then went on a 7-0 run to end the frame with four kills.
Austin College got an early 8-7 lead in set three, but the Quakers posted a .277 hitting percentage as a team in the frame, committing only seven errors to lead though for the win.
As a team, the Quakers scored 48 kills with a .236 attack percentage.
Earlham continues the tournament tomorrow in Druley Performance Gym with a 12 pm matchup against Centre College. The Quakers then get a rematch with Austin at 2:30 pm.
