Volleyball Defeats Robert Morris To Go Undefeated In Blue Hen Invitational

Sunday, August 27

Newark, Del.

3 PM

University of Delaware

3-0,0-0CAA

Robert Morris

1-2,0-0Horizon

Robert Morris

Delaware

Photo by: Gavin Bethell

Volleyball Defeats Robert Morris To Go Undefeated In Blue Hen Invitational

8/27/2023 5:54:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. - University of Delaware volleyball defeated Robert Morris in four sets (25-18, 25-10, 25-22, 25-19) to complete a 3-0 opening weekend at the Blue Hen Invitational.

COACH QUOTE
"I couldn't be more proud of our total team effort this weekend," head coach Kimberly Lambert said. "It was exciting to see different people stepping up each day. Ezgi did an incredible job of spreading our offense, allowing our hitters to have the best chance of success. Kirah really stood out this weekend, as well, hitting extremely efficiently while also putting up a great block."

HEN HIGHLIGHTS

Ezgi Basaranlar had 40 assists, 12 digs, and six blocks.
Lani Mason had a game-high 20 kills to go with 11 digs.
Kirah Johnson had 12 kills with a .600 hitting percentage and five blocks.
Madelyn Grunza had 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage.
Savannah Seemans had nine kills, five aces, and 11 digs.
Asia Murray had five blocks
Eileen Gex had eight digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST SET

After the score was tied at seven, Delaware scored the next four points, and 10 of the next 12, to pull away and take a 17-9 lead. Seemans had two aces during the run and Mason had three kills.
A mini-run by Robert Morris cut the lead down to five, but Delaware scored the final two points of the set to claim a seven-point opening set win.
Mason had six kills in the set while Basaranlar had 12 assists.

SECOND SET

Delaware dominated the second set immediately, going up 7-1 helped out by three-straight kills again by Mason.
The Blue Hens went on a 7-0 run to up the lead to 16-4, with Seemans picking up two more kills. Delaware then had a 6-0 run to go up 23-6, highlighted by two more Seemans kills.
Basaranlar and Johnson finished the set off with a block to win it 25-10.

THIRD SET

Delaware scored six of the next seven points after going down 5-3 to begin the fourth set to go up 9-6.
The Blue Hens upped their lead to 18-13 after a Basaranlar ace, by a 12-4 run by Robert Morris to close out the set helped them stave off a sweep.

FOURTH SET

The fourth set started off as a back-and-forth affair, but Robert Morris held a 16-15 about midway through. Five straight points helped settle Delaware down to take a 20-16 lead.
Delaware closed the set off with five of the next seven points to claim victory, punctuated by a kill by Grunza to end it.
Johnson had six kills in the final set, while Grunza had four, and Basaranlar had 15 assists.

GAME NOTES

Delaware is 3-0 for the first time since 2016, when they swept Coppin State, New Hampshire, and Navy.
Basaranlar had her 23rd career game with at least 40 assists. She now has 2,954 assists for her career.
Mason recorded her 30th career double-double and her second this season.
Grunza recorded her first double-digit kill game in a Blue Hen uniform.

BLUE HEN INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT
Ezgi Basaranlar, Delaware (MVP) - 11 sets played, 3 kills, 110 assists, 26 digs, 14 blocks
Kirah Johnson, Delaware - 11 sets played, 32 kills, .596 hitting percentage, 14 blocks
Kacy Sekunda, Loyola (Md.) - 11 sets played, 32 kills, .343 hitting percentage, 55 assists, 26 digs
Natalie Stepanovich, Robert Morris - 12 sets played, 39 kills, 33 digs, six aces
Jenna Vogen, Niagara - 10 sets played, 15 kills, four digs, six blocks

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