VCU Volleyball traveled to Philadelphia along with their 22 match winning streak to La Salle for an Atlantic 10 conference contest. The match was a short exploration for the Explorers with Alica Kandler leading the Rams with another dominant display on the road.
Rough Terrain At La Salle
Set 1 started well for VCU with a 5-0 scoring run. Gina Tuzzolo collected the opening kill and Vicky Giommarini followed that with a service ace. The duo of Tori Baldwin & Tuzzolo made a team block for the denial and a pair of errors had La Salle down early.
The Explorers readjusted to get some points while the Rams continued rolling. Giommarini and Tuzzolo repeatedly smashed the volleyball by La Salle. Kandler made it a Black & Gold triple threat on offense as VCU kept their pedal on the gas in Set 1.
Madalon Simpson scored another service ace to give VCU set point. Kandler finished the job off the assist from Dajah Ard for the final kill. The Rams won Set 1 25-19.
Nearly Evenly Matched
Set 2 was a more competitive match between VCU and La Salle. Giommarini and Tuzzolo once again finished kills at the net, however, La Salle retaliated with kills of their own. As the set continued, numerous Rams collected kills including Baldwin, Diamond Boxley, and Kandler.
La Salle took an unexpected lead at 10-9 after scoring two consecutive service aces. Jasmin Sneed got the Rams back in it with a kill and a team block alongside Tuzzolo. Rebekah Strange put VCU further ahead with a service ace at 14-11.
A couple of kills went the home team’s way as La Salle drew level once again. At 20-20, Giommarini made two big plays with a kill and a service ace for the Black & Gold. Sneed and Kandler collected the final two kills for the Rams to win Set 2 26-24.
Time To Shine Alica
Alica Kandler took over Set 3 with three consecutive kills on the scoreboard. Baldwin and Boxley added additional kills while Kandler collected her 4th of the set to put VCU in a good position. La Salle stopped the bleeding momentarily at 13-10 but could not stop Kandler as score another pair of kills at the net.
Set 3 was a set to remember for Kandler for the senior out of Germany with 9 kills during the set. Kandler led the team with 13 kills and 11 digs on the night. She recorded the final kill of the night to give VCU the 25-21 victory in Set 3.
Tori Baldwin collected 7 kills and 4 blocks against La Salle. Rebekah Strange had 17 digs and Jasmin Sneed recorded 6 total blocks. VCU put another 3-0 sweep into the collection as their winning streak improved to 23 straight victories.
VCU improved to 26-2 overall and remain perfect in A-10 play at 12-0. The Rams head back on the road on Sunday, November 5th to take on Duquesne at 1 PM.
