LANGHORNE, PA – Cairn Women's Volleyball hosted University of Mount St. Vincent and Centenary on Saturday for their annual September tri-match, improving to 3-0 on the young season after a sweep of Mount St. Vincent and four-set victory against Centenary.
MATCH ONE
Starting off the day in the lead were the Highlanders, running ahead on Mount St. Vincent (1-1) 8-3 behind the serve of sophomore libero Lilianna Magazzu (Reading, PA / Exeter). Freshman setter
Bella Manthe (Manilla, Philippines / Faith Academy) added a kill, then teamed up with sophomore middle
Maddie Shackelford (Warrington, PA / Plumstead Christian) for a block as the Dolphins came back to tie the set at thirteen apiece. Shackelford and Manthe added late aces while a key block from juniors
Anna Dow (Syracuse, NY / Faith Heritage) and
Georgianna Thorpe (Southampton, PA / William Tennent) helped secure the set 25-17.
Dow and Shackelford gave Cairn (3-0) the lead, blocking the first point of the second set while freshman outside hitter
Marah Lehman (Chambersburg, PA / Chambersburg) had two early kills to keep the Highlanders in the lead. As Mount St. Vincent challenged, Lehman went on a run of four kills on her own to place Cairn back up by five, 16-11. Service errors would help hand the set to the Highlanders as Thorpe secured the final kill of the set, 25-20.
Cairn got behind Lehman again, adding three more kills to insert her team into the drivers' seat. Thorpe, Lehman, and junior outside hitter
Bridget Dahn (Smithsburg, MD / Heritage Academy) continued putting on the pressure as Cairn ran ahead 15-8. As UMSV scattered a few points to close the margin, Thorpe, Lehman, and Manthe sent over three kills each to win the match in a three-set sweep.
Lehman beat her best from opening night with 17 kills and 18.5 points on .378% hitting. Dahn had seven kills, also hitting above .300%. Magazzu helped from the service line with three aces as Dow set up 32 assists.
MATCH TWO
Centenary (0-2) fired off three quick points before Thorpe and Lehman got to work to help tie the score early. The Cyclones got running ahead 10-5 until Shackelford and Manthe each placed two aces on the opposite side to tie the score 11-11. Centenary continued to push, taking a 23-17 lead on the Highlanders as they would turnover late points and put Cairn within striking distance at 23-21 before getting over the finish line to take the first set.
Cairn was ready to bounce back in the second set, running ahead 14-9 after an early Centenary attack, with aces from Manthe and Dahn and two kills by Thorpe. The Highlanders kept running, scoring on kills by Manthe, Dow, and Lehman to get up 20-12, never looking back as Shackelford secured an ace to help even the match with a 25-16 set two victory.
The Highlanders got out of the gate with a 9-3 lead with Dow and Lehman scoring aces. Manthe then took the serve and managed three-straight aces to get up big, 16-4. Cairn ran on, winning the set in commanding fashion as Lehman capped it off with an ace, 25-12.
With the determining fourth set looming, Centenary responded with a 13-4 lead off the jump before Dahn took the serve for the Highlanders, rallying back to a two-point deficit as she had two aces. Magazzu scored a kill to tie the set 17-17 as attack errors continued to plague the Cyclones. Dahn and Thorpe came up big, each firing off two kills to provide a 24-19 lead, winning the match on a mistake by Centenary, 25-21, and securing their third-straight win.
Thorpe was unstoppable in match two with 12 kills on .524% hitting. Lehman also had twelve kills with two aces. Manthe added six aces and seven kills to pace the offense.
Cairn will match up with John Jay at home on Thursday night before hitting the road to NJCU this weekend.
