BUFFALO, N.Y. — D'Youville Women's Volleyball faced two challenging opponents on day two of the D'Youville Volleyball Tournament at Saints Center Gym, narrowly falling to Lewis in a tightly contested five-set match (2-3) on Friday, before succumbing to Kutztown in straight sets (0-3) later that evening.
In the match against Lewis, D'Youville established a strong defensive presence early on, highlighted by
Ashley Ballou's (Eden, N.Y. / Eden) blocks that helped secure a swift 4-0 lead.
Madeline O'Brien's (East Amherst, N.Y. / Clarence) kill further extended D'Youville's advantage before Lewis responded with a series of points, evening the score at 5-5.
Alina Bertens Deckart's (Santiago de Chile, Chile Colegio Alemán de Santiago) pivotal entry brought crucial service aces and assists, leading D'Youville on a decisive 9-1 run to push the score to 14-9.
Dinah Yelverton (Charlotte, N.C. / Porter Ridge) and O'Brien continued to apply pressure with effective kills, maintaining momentum for the Saints, who ultimately closed the first set with a 25-18 victory.
D'Youville mounted a spirited comeback in the second set, rallying from a 5-1 deficit to tie the score at 23-23 thanks to contributions from Yelverton and O'Brien. Despite their efforts, Lewis capitalized on a service ace and a kill to secure the set 26-24.
The Saints began the third set strong, with
Maddie Boglev (Hamburg, N.Y. / St. Mary's) delivering an early kill. However, Lewis capitalized on attack errors to build a lead, finishing the set with a 25-17 victory despite efforts from O'Brien and a service ace.
In the fourth set, D'Youville surged ahead, with Ballou's early service ace contributing to a 2-0 lead.
Cameron Ulinski's (Bretten, Germany / Marjory Stoneman Douglas) three consecutive kills extended the advantage to 8-4. Even after a mid-set rally by Lewis tied the score at 10-10, the Saints responded decisively, with back-to-back service aces by Ulinski, closing the set at 25-23.
In a tightly contested fifth set, the Saints initiated strong momentum but saw Lewis counter effectively. O'Brien delivered crucial points, yet Lewis edged ahead with service aces and timely blocks, clinching the set 15-13 and the match.
O'Brien led D'Youville with 19.0 points, recording 16 kills across the five sets. Ballou contributed significantly with 28 assists and six kills, while Boglev had six kills and four blocks.
Angelyn Jaramillo (Houston, TX / Langham Creek) anchored the defense with 16 digs.
Later that evening, D'Youville faced Kutztown and opened the first set strongly with a 3-0 lead, driven by Boglev's kill and Ballou's service ace. However, the Golden Bears responded, pulling ahead after a series of successful plays. D'Youville managed to keep the score tight with contributions from Boglev and
Gabrielle Dials (Columbus, OH / Gahanna Lincoln), but Kutztown secured the set 25-16.
The Saints began the second set with another strong offensive push, taking an early 3-0 lead with kills from Boglev,
Hailey Ferwerda (Boca Raton, FL / West Boca Raton), and O'Brien. After a brief tie at 4-4, D'Youville regained momentum with a 5-point run, highlighted by a service ace from Ulinski and two kills by O'Brien, but ultimately lost the set 25-19 as Kutztown mounted a comeback.
In the third set, O'Brien's critical kills helped tie the score at 9-9, but the Golden Bears managed to pull away in the latter stages, benefiting from service aces and D'Youville's attack errors, concluding the set at 25-21 and the match at 3-0.
O'Brien led against Kutztown with 15 kills and a .379 hitting percentage, accumulating 15.5 points. Ballou contributed with 15 assists and six digs, while Boglev recorded four blocks and Ulinski collected eight digs defensively.
Up Next
The Saints close out the weekend home tournament with a final matchup against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown at 4:00 PM.
