GENEVA, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team claimed one set against Hamilton College in a non-conference loss on Friday evening at Hobart & William Smith Colleges.
 
The Saxons (0-5, 0-0 Empire 8) dropped the first two sets to the Continentals (1-0, 0-0 NESCAC), 19-25, 13-25 before claiming an extra-points third set, 26-24 to force the fourth set. Hamilton claimed the win with a 25-18 finish in the fourth.
 
Taylor Malone (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) led the Saxons' offense with a match-high 16.0 points on 15 kills and one ace while adding nine digs and two set assists. Carleigh Santavy (Commerce, MI/Walled Lake Northern) followed with 9.0 points from nine kills while tacking on five digs.
 
Delaney Sims (Bogart, GA/George Walton Academy) had 31 set assists to go along with 7.5 points on three kills, three aces and three block assists.
 
Malone's nine digs led AU as Meeghan Peterson (Amherst, NY/Williamsville South) supplemented with eight attack stops, adding 2.0 points on two aces.
 
The Saxons started the third set strong with a 5-1 opening as Malone had two of her kills in the scoring spree. The rest was filled with Hamilton mistakes including two attack errors and a ball handling error. Santavy and Abigail Omelan (Tomball, TX/Tomball Memorial) tacked on a kill each as the Saxons extended the lead, 10-4 with even more Continental errors. Hamilton responded with six, unanswered points to tie the set, 10-10.
 
The AU offense retaliated with a 7-2 run, led by a kill from Sims, Santavy and two from Malone as well as a service ace from Jade Wolfer (Nunda, NY/Keshequa) to make it a 17-12 Saxon lead. Hamilton mounted an offensive effort that cut the lead, tied it and took their first lead of  the set, 22-19.
 
Santavy recorded a kill to end the spree before a Peterson ace brought it back to within one as the Saxons faced a Hamilton 22-21 lead. The Continentals scored only two more points for the rest of the set off a service error to make it 23-21 and a kill, ensuring the need for extra points on a kill at 24-23. The Saxons' 22^nd point was recorded off an Hamilton service error. Madalynn McGowan (Corona, CA/Norco) recorded an ace with the reception error coming from the same player who made the service error, tying the set at 23-23. Malone tied the set again at 24-24 with a kill before Wolfer aced the 25^th and 26^th points to claim it.
 
The Saxons will next close out the week with back-to-back matches at Hobart William Smith College on Saturday, September 6. The first match is scheduled to be played against Buffalo State at 3:30pm and the second against the host, William Smith College at 6:00pm.