Selinsgrove, Pa. – The Susquehanna University Volleyball Team captured their first victory at home in almost a year with their win over Shenandoah on Friday night. The River Hawk faithful were out in full force to cheer on the defending Landmark Conference Regular Season Champs, as they played the second game in the Battle of the SUs. The Battle of the SUs, played this year at Susquehanna University in the Orlando W. Houts Gymnasium, will rotate to a different school each year, allowing all of the colleges/universities to host the tournament.

The Battle of the SUs began with a 3-0 win for Salisbury University over Stockton, improving their record to 4-2. The Susquehanna and Shenandoah match followed immediately after, with the River Hawks winning 3-1, who improved their record to 3-2. The two victors from Friday meet in the first match at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 11^th.

The match began with Susquehanna dominating Shenandoah 25-10 in the first set, which made it seem like the River Hawks might run away with an easy victory. But that wasn't to be, as the Hornets challenged the home team in the second set, going point-for-point for almost the entire set. The scoring began to go far higher than the standard 25-point total required for a win, as neither team could get ahead by more than a single point. The grueling set finally ended with three straight points from Shenandoah, winning 35-33.

After a backbreaking loss in the second set, it seemed like the Hornets had gotten the momentum and taken the air out of the gym. But the River Hawks stormed back and won the final two sets in convincing fashion, with margins of ten and nine points. In the third set, Kody Dillon (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) provided a noticeable spark with her play and helped her team regain momentum and energy to power them to victory, with Susquehanna winning the final two sets 25-15 and 25-16.

Rosina Esposito (Coraopolis, PA/Montour) reminded Susquehanna fans why she was the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year in 2019 with her performance, as she recorded 15 kills and three service aces. Riley O'Dowd (Montville, NJ/Morris Catholic) lead the team with 17 kills from the outside and Lizzie Herestofa contributed four service aces, three assists, and lead the team with 16 digs. Freshman setter Keira Roach (Charlottesville, VA/ Albermarle High) added 34 assists and five kills to round out the strong offensive attack.

Other Notes

• Overall, the River Hawks dominated just about every team category against the Hornets, obtaining the advantage in kills (56-39), aces (16-4), blocks (14-3), assists (53-37), and digs (58-54). The team finished with 25% as their overall hitting percentage, while the Hornets were at 9% for the night.
• Dillon led the team with six blocks on Friday, while Brooke LaCesa (York, PA/Eastern) had five blocks to go along with her ten kills.

Up Next

• Susquehanna Volleyball will be back in action tomorrow, September 11^th, for an 11 a.m. matchup with Salisbury University, before finishing up the Battle of the SUs with a bout against Stockton at 5 p.m. Stockton faces Shenandoah at 1 p.m. followed by Salisbury who plays Shenandoah at 3 p.m., to round out the Battle of the SUs' game slate.