Charleston, S.C. Sophomore Rachel Sanders, freshman Taylor Stanke and senior Samantha Parisi all ripped double-digit kills Tuesday night as The Citadel swept the Rams of Winston-Salem State for the third time this season. Sophomore Emily Hill added 44 assists and six service aces to the Bulldog effort. Game scores were 30-15, 30-19 and 30-15.
Sanders put down 17 kills en route to an impressive .400 hitting percentage. Stanke recorded 15 kills on the night while Parisi had 14 kills alongside her five service aces. Parisi has now recorded 106 aces in her career, vaulting her to fifth in the school's record books for career service aces. The Bulldogs recorded 58 kills on the night, compared to the Rams' 17.
The Citadel (7-14, 1-6 SoCon) has now tied the program's 2001 record for wins in a season, the second most number of wins a Bulldog team has compiled. Winston-Salem State (2-21) gave up a total of 15 Bulldog service aces, with Hill leading the way.
“We passed well as a team tonight,” said head coach Carolyn Geiger. “We minimized our hitting errors and that is something I have been looking for from this team for the past few matches. We executed well in our fundamentals. I hope we can take this momentum into this weekend's contests when we play two conference rivals in Greensboro and Elon.”
Ciere Simpson's six kills led Winston-Salem State as she hit .167. The only Ram to reach double-digits in any statistical category was Valentina Pushkina, who registered 11 assists. The Rams' outblocked The Citadel, 7-2, with Simpson and Annika Barnwell each recording a block solo in the match.
The Citadel strolled to a 30-15 win in the first set behind six kills from Sanders and three aces from Hill. The Bulldogs dominated the hitting game, outswinging the Rams, .424 to .103. Parisi, Tiffany Edwards and Ashley Winter each recorded a service ace in the game, along with Hill.
The Bulldogs' hitting percentage dropped to .239 in game two, but The Citadel still won a 30-19 decision that never had a tie score or lead change. Stanke led the Bulldog offense with six kills while Sanders and Parisi added five each. Hill jumped into the mix, adding three kills on four attempts for a .750 hitting percentage in the second game.
The Citadel led by as much as 20-9 in a dominating game three that seemed never in doubt. Sanders and Parisi mirrored each other in the third set as both girls recorded six kills with one error on nine attempts for a hitting percentage of.556. Parisi added three aces in the game for The Citadel
The Citadel returns to action Friday night as the Bulldogs return to SoCon action as they host the Spartans of UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. in McAlister Field House. That match will be carried live on Bulldog Insider at CitadelSports.com. For complete coverage of Bulldog Volleyball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.
