Alfred University Athletics

ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team continued its win streak with a 3-1 win against Utica University on Friday.

The Saxons (10-11, 3-1 Empire 8) narrowly lost the first set 23-25 before coming back to win the next three against the Pioneers (8-13, 1-3 Empire 8), 25-23, 25-18, 25-19.

Carleigh Santavy (Commerce, MI/Walled Lake Northern) was AUVB's leading scorer with a career-high 19.0 points on a career-high 19 kills.

Taylor Malone (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) finished with 14.0 points on 14 kills while matching her career-high 14 digs. She surpassed Sarah Raeman '21 for fourth all-time in career points with 947.5. 

Delaney Sims (Bogart, GA/George Walton Academy) registered 11.5 points with five kills, a career-high five service aces, and two blocks. She also added 36 assists and eight digs to her stat line. Sims surpassed Mary Lou Patnaude '16 and Amanda Burns '21 for eighth all-time in career service aces (105). 

Cara Bratthauar (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg Area) added 9.5 points on a season-high seven kills and four blocks. Julia Abbott (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) notched 8.0 points on five kills, a season-high two service aces and two block assists. Madalynn McGowan (Corona, CA/Norco) tied Malone with 14 digs while notching five assists.

The Saxons had the lead for the early moments of the second. AUVB was up 15-12 before Utica University climbed in front with a 6-1 run to go up by two, 18-16. The Pioneers committed two errors before Sims and Bratthauar came up for the block assists that tied the game at 19-all. A kill by Malone ignited a 6-3 run and the Saxons came back to clinch the narrow 25-23 win to tie the match at 1-1.

AUVB started the third set with its largest lead of 10-4. The Saxons stayed in the lead thanks to a .455 hitting percentage compared to the Pioneers' .250. In the final plays of the third set, Sims tallied four service aces while Santavy hit three kills to help AUVB improve to 2-1 in the match.

During the fourth set, Utica University got within one on an error by the Saxons and back-to-back service aces, 13-12. Malone and Sims posted back-to-back kills that led to a 7-2 run for AUVB, 20-14. The Pioneers responded with four unanswered points before the Saxons continued to extend their lead with kills by Abbott, Whitney Kilton (Pearl City, HI/Pearl City), and Santavy. Abbott put the icing on the cake with back-to-back service aces, and AUVB finished on top.

"We started out a bit rough, but didn't let that get us down," Head Coach Mike Honeycutt said. "We continued to fight against a very tough team and we were able to pull out the win. I'm very proud of our effort on defense and serving. We have some things to work on, but as long as we keep putting in the work during practice, those things will become our strengths."

The Saxons prepare for a day of back-to-back matches on Saturday. AUVB will begin the day with an Empire 8 matchup at home against SUNY Poly at 1:00 PM. The Saxons will then head across the street to take on Alfred State College, as part of the Alfred Cup at 4:00 PM.