The Case Western Reserve University volleyball team won a pair of matches on Saturday at the Inaugural Grove City College Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at the Grove City College Intramural Facility in Grove City, Pennsylvania, defeating Mount St. Joseph University in five sets and Thiel College in three sets.

The Spartans improved to 7-5 this season, while the Lions dropped to 8-4 and the Tomcats fell to 3-3.

Stats and Standouts

• Senior Katie Yanni had a career-high 14 kills in the first match to go along with 10 digs and followed with four kills and a dig against Thiel
• Junior Sienna Olson and sophomore Isabel Haytayan each had 10 kills against MSJ with Olson adding seven in the later match. Haytayan paced the squad with five blocks in the opening match
• First-year Piper Starling and junior Avery Basinger directed the offense with Starling contributing 37 assists in eight sets and Basinger adding 33 combined across the two matches
• Junior Sophia Datto and a season-high 24 digs against the Lions and led the team with 17 digs against the Tomcats
• Sophomore Thea Beran had at least 10 digs in both matches (10 and 11) with senior Sude Naz Item adding 11 digs in the opening contest

CWRU 3, Mount St. Joseph 2 (14-25, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 15-10)

First Set (14-25)

• With the score tied at 7, MSJ won nine of the next 10 points to take a 16-8 lead
• After a bad set ended the run, the Lions used a 6-1 run to take a 12-point advantage
• Three consecutive attacking errors brought the Spartans within nine, but Mount St. Joseph won three of the final four points to claim the first set

Second Set (25-23)

• CWRU opened the second stanza with an 8-3 run
• The Lions tied the score at nine with a 6-1 run of their own
• The Spartans responded with a kill by Yanni and a service ace by Basinger
• Following a Mount St. Joseph kill, Felgar had back-to-back blocks to take a three-point lead
• The Lions had a 6-1 run to take a 17-15 edge
• Olson and Yanni put down kills to tie the score, but MSJ won the next point to retake the lead
• Haytayan tied the score with a kill with two consecutive errors and a kill by Yanni giving CWRU a 21-18 edge
• The Lions responded by tying the score at 21, but Felgar put the Spartans ahead with a kill and an attacking error gave Case Western Reserve a two-point lead
• MSJ followed with a kill and service ace to even the score at 23
• Halter put CWRU ahead with a kill and a Mount St. Joseph attacking error ended the set in favor of the Spartans

Third Set (25-23)

• With the score tied at seven in the pivotal third set, CWRU won eight of the next 11 rallies to take a 15-10 lead
• The teams traded the next points before MSJ tied the score at 16 with a 5-0 run
• With MSJ leading 21-20, first-year Maya Zarow and Haytayan had two kills each to put the Spartans ahead 24-21
• MSJ fought off two set points before a block by Zarow and Haytayan ended the set for the Spartans

Fourth Set (23-25)

• CWRU led by four early in the fourth set, before MSJ reeled off six consecutive points to take a 16-11 lead
• The Spartans responded with a 6-1 run of their own, tying the score at 17 on a block by Haytayan and Zarow
• MSJ took a two-point lead, but Olson and Yanni had back-to-back kills to tie the score at 20
• Datto aced a serve to give the Spartans the lead, but MSJ evened the score at 21
• After a kill by Yanni, MSJ won four of the final five rallies to force a fifth set

Fifth Set (15-10)

• An MSJ service error tied the score at six in the final stanza
• Yanni had a kill to give the Spartans the lead, and an MSJ attacking error put CWRU ahead by two
• A kill by the Lions halved the deficit, before a kill by Yanni gave the Spartans a 10-7 edge
• MSJ did not go away quietly, making the score 11-10 in favor of CWRU
• A service error put the Spartans ahead by two, before back-to-back attacking errors made the score 14-10
• Beran wrapped up the win with a service ace, her second of the match

CWRU 3, Thiel 0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-17)

First Set (25-16)

• The teams traded 4-0 runs to start the match
• With Thiel ahead 12-9, CWRU went on an 8-1 run to take a four-point lead
• Felgar and Halter had kills in the run with the six other points coming off Tomcat errors
• Thiel cut the deficit to three, 18-13, before the Spartans won six consecutive points on the service of Starling
• The first year had two service aces in the run with Zarow adding a pair of kills
• The Tomcats fought off the first set point before a service error ended the stanza

Second Set (25-12)

• The Spartans used four points in a row to take a seven-point lead, 10-3, early in the set
• Ahead by six, 13-7, Halter started a 6-0 run with a kill as CWRU pulled ahead by 12
• Basinger and Haytayan added kills in the run with Felgar acing two serves
• Case Western Reserve won six of the final 11 rallies to claim the second set

Third Set (25-17)

• CWRU went on a 9-3 run to open the third stanza and extended the advantage to seven on a kill by Yanni
• After a Spartan attacking error, Felgar and first-year Maia Khetani had back-to-back kills, followed by a pair of Thiel attacking errors to increase the edge to 10, 16-6
• The Tomcats took six of the next seven points to halve the deficit but the Spartans responded by winning five of the next six rallies with first-year Marisa Guan putting down a pair of kills
• Needing just three points to end the match, the Spartans received a kill from sophomore Kate Williams and a pair of Thiel errors to clinch the victory

Spartan Notes

• CWRU improved to 7-1 against Thiel since 2003, including sweeps in the last three meetings (2026, 2018, 2015)
• The Spartans won their third consecutive match against Mount St. Joseph, improving to 4-1 against the Lions since 2011
• The five-set victory against MSJ was the first time CWRU had a five-set match this season
• Case Western Reserve had a season-high 86 digs in the win over Mount St. Joseph

Up Next

CWRU will begin conference play on Saturday, September 26, facing eighth-ranked Carnegie Mellon at 11 a.m. in Rochester, New York. Later in the day, the Spartans will take on 24th-ranked Chicago at 1 p.m.