Mary Baldwin women's volleyball captured its first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Christendom on Wednesday at the Physical Activity Center. The win was also the first for new head coach Robert Kocher.
The Fighting Squirrels took control early, winning the first set 25-14. Mary Baldwin used a strong start to take an early lead and held off Christendom throughout the opening set.
Christendom responded in the second set, taking a 25-20 victory to even the match at 1-1.
Mary Baldwin regained control in the third set, earning a 25-18 win. The Fighting Squirrels battled back from an early 7-1 deficit and eventually took the lead at 10-9. Mary Baldwin continued to build its lead and closed out the set 25-18.
The Fighting Squirrels carried the momentum into the fourth set. Mary Baldwin opened with a 2-0 lead and continued to extend its advantage, leading 20-10 late in the set before closing out the match 25-18.
Junior Gabrielle Culanding led Mary Baldwin with seven kills, while junior Morgan Flaherty added six kills. Freshman Ariana Guillen recorded 13 assists, and freshman Morgan Sher finished with 10 assists.
Following his first win as head coach, Robert Kocher said the team is already looking ahead.
"We're feeling hungry, we know we can be better than that. We know what our standard is, we're happy with the win but we want to keep pushing to get better," Kocher said.
Mary Baldwin will open up conference play as they travel to Meredith College Saturday, Sept. 19 to a play a tri-match starting with Greensboro college at 2:00 p.m. and finishing the day with Meredith at 4:00 p.m.
