ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team earned a historic 3-0 victory over the University of Rochester on Wednesday.

For the first time in 24 years, dating back to 2001, the Saxons (9-11, 2-1 Empire 8) defeated the Yellow Jackets (3-13, 0-3 UAA) by scores of 26-24, 25-23, 25-20.

Taylor Malone (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) led the way with 19.0 points on 15 kills and a career-high four service aces. Julia Abbott (Binghamton, NY/Binghamton) registered 9.0 points on eight kills and a season-high two block assists. Whitney Kilton (Pearl City, HI/Pearl City) made big plays and finished with a career-high 8.5 points on a career-high matching six kills and two blocks. Carleigh Santavy (Commerce, MI/Walled Lake Northern) notched 6.0 points while Cara Bratthauar (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg Area) added 5.0 on four kills and two block assists.

Delaney Sims (Bogart, GA/George Walton Academy) finished with a double-double of 33 assists and a career-high matching 14 digs while scoring 4.5 points. She surpassed Amanda Burns '21 for second all-time in career assists with 1,883. Madalynn McGowan (Corona, CA/Norco) led AUVB with 17 digs and registered a career-high matching six assists.

The opening set was a hard-fought affair, characterized by back-and-forth action. The play-by-play recorded 11 ties and 11 lead changes. The Saxons leaned on the offensive output from Malone and Abbott as they combined for nine first-set points. Tied at 24-all, two attack errors from the University of Rochester gave the first set to AUVB.

The Saxons were down 9-6 early in the second set. Sims found Kilton for a kill that ignited a 7-2 that brought AUVB up by two, 13-11. After the Yellow Jackets tied it at 18-all, six timely kills and forced visitor errors helped the Saxons hang on for the 25-23 win to lead the match, 2-0.

In the third set, Alfred established a stronger foothold, but the scoring run was challenged by Rochester late in the frame. Malone tallied seven of AUVB's points while Kilton and Santavy added three apiece. In the final two plays, Sims delivered perfect assists to Santavy, who terminated the ball for the back-to-back, securing the set win and sweep.

The Saxons demonstrated a powerful and efficient offense throughout the night, finishing with a .327 overall hitting percentage, significantly outperforming Rochester's .189.

"This was a big win for us as a program," Head Coach Mike Honeycutt said. "The last time we beat them was 24 years ago in 2001. Sophomore middle blocker Whitney Kilton had arguably the best match of her young career. We served tough as a team and again played great defense."

AUVB turns its attention back to E8 play as it hosts Utica University on Friday at 7:00 PM.