ALBANY, N.Y.- The College of Saint Rose began the 2022 campaign with a sweep over Dominican University today at Nolan Gymnasium. The Golden Knights displayed an accurate attack on the afternoon, tallying a .393 strike percentage as a team while holding the visitors to a .101 swing rate.
Three different Golden Knights recorded seven kills in the balanced offensive performance, with junior outside hitter
Jessica Vargas, sophomore outside hitter
Juliana Venduro, and freshman middle blocker
Joanna Forrest sharing the team lead.
"It was great to start off our season with a home-opener and also be able to take the win," said Head Coach
Vanessa Volpe-Rivera. "The team has worked incredibly hard over the last three weeks and it really shined during our match today. We are excited to see what the rest of our season brings."
After trailing 6-5 in the opening frame, Saint Rose (1-0) would go on to win 19 of the last 27 points to take the 1-0 lead. Venduro and freshman outside hitter
Sydney Zandstra combined for seven of the 11 kills in the first for the Golden Knights.
Dominican sprinted out to another advantage in the second set, leading 11-6 before Zandstra served six straight points, including four aces, to bring the Golden Knights back even. The action remained tight throughout the second, however the Golden Knights would never relinquish the advantage on the way to the 25-22 set victory. Vargas totaled five kills and junior setter
Valeria Jorge distributed 12 assists to lead Saint Rose in the frame.
Forrest registered all seven of her kills in the final set, including three of final four points, to help the Golden Knights close out the sweep.
Jorge finished with a career-high with 30 assists in the victory, in addition to a team-best 13 digs to round out a "double-double" performance. Sophomore libero
Katelyn Atchinson added 11 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Kaitlyn Carr topped the Chargers (0-1) with 10 kills in the setback.
Looking ahead, Saint Rose travels to New Haven, Conn. for a pair of matches on Saturday. The Golden Knights begin the day against Chestnut Hill at 2:00 pm, followed by a 4:00 pm tilt with Southern Connecticut State. Dominican will also play two on Saturday afternoon, as the Chargers head to Shepherdstown, West Virginia to face Chowan and Shepherd University.
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