Volleyball Sweeps Niagara On Day Two Of Blue Hen Invitational

Saturday, August 26

Newark, Del.

7 PM

University of Delaware

2-0,0-0CAA

Niagara

0-2,0-0MAAC

Niagara

Delaware

Photo by: Mikey Reeves

Volleyball Sweeps Niagara On Day Two Of Blue Hen Invitational

8/26/2023 9:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. - University of Delaware volleyball swept Niagara (25-16, 25-17, 25-22) during day two of the Blue Hen Invitational to begin the 2023 season with back-to-back victories.

COACH QUOTE
"I am incredibly proud of how the team rallied," head coach Kimberly Lambert said. "We had multiple people step up today. Our middles were extremely efficient and Sav did an exceptional job taking over our offense."

HEN HIGHLIGHTS

Savannah Seemans had a game-high 14 kills and a .423 hitting percentage.
Kirah Johnson had 9 kills with a .643 hitting percentage and four blocks.
Lani Mason had eight kills and seven digs.
Ezgi Basaranlar had 32 assists, nine digs, and four blocks.
Eileen Gex also had nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST SET

Niagara hung with the Blue Hens midway through the first-set, with Delaware up 12-9. However, Delaware scored six of the next eight points and four of the final five points of the set, winning it 25-16.
Seemans had five kills in the first set, including four in the final stretch run that saw Delaware outscore Niagara 13-7.
Mason had four kills in the first set.

SECOND SET

The second set was once again tight midway through, with Niagara leading 10-9, Delaware ripped off six straight points and nine of 10 to go up 19-12. Johnson and Mason both had two kills during the run.
Seemans claimed the set for Delaware at 25-17 with a kill, her third of the second set.
Mason, Johnson, and Madelyn Grunza all also had three kills for the Blue Hens in the set.

THIRD SET

Niagara went up 6-2 in the third set before Delaware rallied to tie it at 7-7 and eventually go up 11-8.
An ace by Basaranlar pushed the lead to 16-11, but Niagara battled back to tie the set at 17. Seemans settled the unit down with three consecutive kills for Delaware.
With the score tied at 21, the Blue Hens scored four of the next five points of the set, capped off by a block by Murray, to finish off the sweep.

GAME NOTES

Delaware improves to 3-0 all-time against Niagara, but picked up their first win at home against them ever.
Johnson is hitting .594 with 10 kills through two games.
Basaranlar has begun the season with back-to-back games with at least 30 assists and has 70 through seven sets of the season.

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