By Kelsey Rogers
Digital media editor
The Susquehanna women’s volleyball team opened up the 2018 season on August 31 and Sep. 1 with a 2–2 split record at the Christopher Newport Tournament in Newport News, Virginia.
Susquehanna had two consecutive losses against Muhlenberg and Christopher Newport on Aug. 31. Both Muhlenberg and Christopher Newport defeated the River Hawks with a score of 3–2.
Muhlenberg won the opening set with a score of 26–24, with Susquehanna battling back to take the second and third sets with scores of 25–21 and 25– 22. The Mules once again took control of the game by winning the fourth set 25–22 and securing the win in the tie-breaker with a score of 15–13.
Christopher Newport opened the match 25–20 in the first set before falling to Susquehanna in the second and third sets 25–19 and 25–19. The Captains regained their dominance by wrapping up the final two sets with 25–17 and 15–8, securing the win.
On Sep. 1 the River Hawks emerged with two wins to break even, defeating Keystone College and Mary Washington University with a sweep of 3–0.
Susquehanna defeated Keystone 25–17, 25–19 and 25–17 before defeating Mary Washington in another straight set 27–25, 25–21 and 25–19.
Freshmen outside hitter Riley O’Dowd and middle hitter Kody Dillon led the River Hawks offense in all four matches and were selected to the All-Tournament team. O’Dowd had 10 and 13 kills respectively against Muhlenberg and Christopher Newport only to come back Saturday and rally another 13 kills against Mary Washington and five against Keystone.
Dillon had 12 kills against Muhlenberg and contributed seven more kills and nine digs against Mary Washington.
“It feels amazing to play so strongly in my first collegiate match of my career,” O’Dowd said. “There were definitely nerves going into it, but they quickly faded as the intensity of the game picked up.”
O’Dowd continued that the competition was extremely tough, but that pushed the River Hawks to do their best.
“Some of our strengths were our hustle and never giving up on a play,” she said. “We give it our all every point and that makes us a tough component for other schools.”
Freshman outside hitter Brooke Lacesa, junior middle hitter Hannah Lyons and senior middle hitter Janai Henderson also contributed double-digit kills to lead Susquehanna’s offense. Lacesa had 13 kills against Muhlenberg while Henderson and Lyons recorded 14 and 11, respectively.
“I think the team is performing very well,” Lacesa said. “Our dynamic was amazing during the second match against Mary Washington.”
Junior setter Lindsay Pugh delivered 36 assists against Muhlenberg and 41 assists against Christopher Newport.
Sophomore defensive specialist Lizzie Herestofa led the River Hawks defense with 29 digs against Muhlenberg and 28 against Christopher Newport.
Junior defensive specialist Caroline Beohm hit the 1,000-career dig milestone over the weekend and had a weekend high with 25 digs and three aces against Muhlenberg.
Beohm said she is using the accomplishment as motivation to exceed beyond her personal expectations.
“We have an incredible opportunity this year to make a statement, not only in the conference, but in the region as well,” she said. “One of our greatest strengths is that we work hard, and we work together. No one ever feels like they’re out there on their own.”
Beohm said the upperclassmen have a goal to lead the younger players to being one of the toughest teams in the country. Head coach John Tom said that the upperclassmen rose to each and every challenge.
“The expectation of the upperclassmen was to mentor, support, require and relate to the situation we found ourselves in and to grow the team,” Tom said.
Susquehanna returns to action on Friday, Sept. 7 when they travel to Ithaca College for the Ithaca Invitational.
The River Hawks will face SUNY Geneseo first on Friday and will face both Ithaca and Wesleyan (Conn.) on Saturday. Game time is 5 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday
