The 16th-ranked Case Western Reserve University volleyball team swept Oberlin College 25-3, 25-15, 25-14, in a midweek non-conference match at Philips Gymnasium in Oberlin, Ohio, on Wednesday night.
The Spartans improved to 16-2 on the season while the Yeowomen fell to 2-11. The 16th victory this season ensures a winning record for CWRU for the third consecutive season and for the eighth time since 2014.
Senior Carly Scott came one service ace from matching the program record, contributing seven aces in the match. She led the squad with nine assists and added six digs. Senior Rea Marfatia paced the offense with 12 kills, and first-year Avery Basinger added seven assists. Sophomore Sude Naz Item had a team-high nine digs with Marfatia contributing seven. Junior Amanda Ngo finished the match with five kills on just eight attacks without an error, ending with a team-best .625 hitting percentage.
CWRU opened the match on a 9-2 run with Marfatia contributing three kills out of the team's nine points. Scott stepped back to the service line and aced six of the next 13 serves, including four in a row at one point. Marfatia added three more kills as the Spartans pulled ahead 22-2. After a CWRU attacking error, the visitors won the final three points to claim the set, 25-3.
Case Western Reserve won the first point of the second set before Oberlin used a 5-0 run to take its first lead of the night. Following a Spartan timeout, the visitors won the next three points, including an ace by Scott, to pull within one. The hosts battled back by taking the next two rallies, but CWRU reclaimed the lead with a 5-1 run. After the Yeowomen tied the score at nine, Ngo put down three consecutive kills to put the Spartans ahead. Scott followed with a kill, prompting an Oberlin timeout with the score at 13-9. After the teams split the next four points, a 4-1 Spartan run increased the team's advantage to seven. An Oberlin kill cut the deficit to six, but that would be the closest the hosts would get to tying the score as CWRU finished the set by winning six of the final eight points.
With the score tied at four in the third set, Case Western Reserve went on a 7-1 run to open a six-point lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the match. Oberlin was able to cut its deficit to four, 12-8, and later five, 16-11, but a service error and Marfatia kill quickly expanded the Spartan advantage to seven. CWRU ended the set by winning seven of the final 10 rallies to claim the frame by a score of 25-14.
The Spartans will have 10 days off from intercollegiate competition before resuming their conference schedule with the second University Athletic Association Round Robin hosted by WashU on Sunday, October 13. CWRU will face 20th-ranked New York University at 1 p.m. ET followed by a matchup with Brandeis at 3 p.m. ET
Spartan Notes
- The Spartans improved to 21-2 against Oberlin since 2002, including wins in their last eight meetings
- Marfatia increased her career total to 983 kills, moving within 17 of 1,000 across four seasons
- Scott's seven aces are the most by a Spartan in a single match since Emily Wolfenbarger had seven in a three-set win over Rochester on October 14, 2018. The program record of eight service aces was set by Melanie Parat against Chicago on October 17, 2004
- As a team, CWRU had 11 service aces, four shy of the program record of 15 set against La Roche on September 11, 2009 and matched against Nazareth on October 6, 2012Â
