Women's Volleyball

The women?s volleyball team beat Marietta College at home on Tuesday, and then swept their second consecutive tournament over the weekend, winning all four of their matches at the 2005 Carnegie Mellon Crossover. With the victories, the Tartans now stand at 12?5 on the season, after beginning the year with a 3?5 stretch.
In their first home match, Carnegie swept Marietta College: 30?16, 30?22, and 30?22. Junior hitters Amanda Bradford and Catie Fisher led the Tartan attack with 11 and 13 kills, respectively, and libero Kathryn Fox frustrated the opposing hitters with 19 digs. Senior middle hitter Chrissy Bartek added seven more kills, and Setter Brea Carlock fashioned 34 assists. The team as a whole finished with five blocks.
On Friday and Saturday, CMU hosted its lone home tournament of the year, as seven schools ?Allegheny, Gettysburg, Heidelberg, Ithaca, John Carroll, Nazareth, and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) ? were invited to the 2005 Carnegie Crossover. The Tartans opened their tournament on the first day with a tough five-game win over the Heidelberg College Student Princes: 30?27, 30?28, 28?30, 25?30, and 15?13. Later that evening, Carnegie took a four-game set from Gettysburg College, as they beat the Bullets 30?25, 27?30, 30?23, 30?23.
On Saturday, the Tartans continued their remarkable run, sweeping both teams that they played. At noon, Carnegie took down the Allegheny College Gators: 30?26, 30?21, and
30?27. The team then ended the tournament with its second sweep of John Carroll (Ohio) this season: 30?21, 30?28, and 30?24.
CMU, after a start that did not live up to head coach Kim Kelly?s expectations, is now
12?5 and riding a nine game winning streak. The winning streak is a credit both to the team?s improved consistency and its newfound ability to dominate defensively at the net.
?The team has learned to play together and work as a team,? said Kelly. ?I felt that they played very well. They fought hard. They showed that they can come back and win.?
The Tartans have not only been winning of late ?? they have been dominating. CMU?s game against John Carroll on Saturday marked its seventh sweep of the season. The team, in fact, has swept six of its last nine matches. Coach Kelly knows that it is important to keep her team playing at this level, and to keep the team?s priorities straight.
?We need to finish strong and have fun,? said Kelly.
Staying hot over the next few weeks is the Tartans? primary goal, and they are peaking at the right time. The team has two UAA round robin tournaments coming up, one at Case Western University and another at Washington University. At these competitions, the Tartans will match up against such schools as New York University, Chicago, Brandeis, and Emory. Coach Kelly, though, is not worried about any sort of letdown.
?I am quite confident that we will make a very good showing,? stated Kelly.
The Tartans play their first tournament at Case Western Reserve University next weekend.