Musketeers take care of William & Mary 3-1, stand 3-3 in the early season

Xavier women’s volleyball hosted the Xavier University Tournament at Cintas Center last weekend and picked up a 3-1 win over William & Mary despite falling to Akron and Wright State.

Xavier played neck-and- neck with Akron in a match that lasted all five sets.

With the score at 23-all in the first set, the Musketeers picked up two points in a row to win 25-23.

The second set was a battle much like the first, but with the score knotted at 15, Xavier pulled away and won 25-15 to go ahead 2-0 in the match.

Akron battled back in the third set, winning 25-18.

In the fourth set with Xavier leading 12-10, sophomore outside hitter Norah Painter came through with three straight kills to put the Musketeers up 15-10.

Akron came back though, going on an 8-2 run of its own to take an 18-17 lead. A 4-0 Xavier run ensued, giving it a 21-18 lead. The Zips immediately responded with a 5-1 run to take a 23-22 lead and eventually won the set 27-25.

In the fifth and final set, Akron jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but a 3-0 Xavier run tied it up at six apiece.

Akron battled back, going on a 4-1 run to put it up 10-7, but Xavier came back to tie the score at 13 before Akron finished out the next two points to take the set 15-13 and win the match.

In the first set against William & Mary on Saturday morning, Xavier went up 11-4 and never looked back, finishing with the 25-10 victory.

Painter had five of her 12 kills in the first set while junior right side hitter Moriah Hopkins chipped in four kills of her own.

The Tribe responded in the second set with a 25-21 win.

 With the score tied at 14-14 in the fourth set, Xavier went on a 7-1 run to give it a 21-15 advantage, but William & Mary came back and tied the match at 24-24. Xavier picked up the final two points of the set, however, and won 26-24.

The Musketeers trailed 7-5 in the fourth set, but a 9-0 run catapulted them to a 14-7 lead.

Xavier took 11 of the next 14 points for a 25-11 win. The win was Xavier’s third of the young season.

In Xavier’s final matchup of the weekend, the Musketeers faced a Wright State team that hadn’t dropped a set all tournament.

That trend continued as the Raiders beat the Musketeers 25-21, 25-16, 25-13 en route to winning the tournament championship.

Hopkins was named to the all-tournament team, as she racked up 28 kills and nine blocks in the Musketeers’ three games.

Xavier’s regular season will continue on the road next week as they take on Lipscomb in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday night.

By Joe Clark | Saff Writer