SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. — Karla Melendez Martinez recorded 10 kills and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College hit .359 as the Pomeroys swept Brescia 25-14, 25-10, 25-13 Friday at the Knoerle Center.
The River States Conference regular-season champions improved to 38-1 overall and 13-0 in conference play. SMWC enters the RSC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will host the No. 8 seed in a quarterfinal at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Knoerle Center.
Melendez Martinez hit .391 and added eight digs, while
Masa Pesic delivered eight kills without an error on 11 attempts for a .727 hitting percentage.
Raimey Owens contributed seven kills, and
Luci Morris and
Natalie Knigga finished with five apiece.
SMWC established its offensive rhythm early, recording 18 kills against one error for a .531 hitting percentage in the opening set. With the teams tied at 4,
Sofia Soto put down a kill and Melendez Martinez followed with an ace to give the Pomeroys the lead for good. Consecutive kills by Owens helped stretch the advantage to 9-5, and Pesic supplied three kills during the closing stretch, including the set winner.
The Pomeroys carried that momentum into the second set, answering Brescia's opening point with seven straight.
Leishmarie Virella served an ace during the run, which also featured kills from Melendez Martinez, Morris and
Ryan Canter.
Melendez Martinez continued to pace the attack as SMWC pulled away, collecting six kills in the set.
Lily Richards added a late ace before setting up Pesic for the kill that finished the 25-10 victory.
Harper Ash helped SMWC take control of the third set with a strong serving stretch. After Morris gave the Pomeroys a 4-1 lead, SMWC scored six more consecutive points with Ash at the service line. Ash delivered two aces during the run, while Knigga added two kills and Canter teamed with
Leah Luevanos for a block as the lead grew to 10-1.
Knigga finished with five kills in the final set, and
Kia Knox-Dawkins added three late kills.
Kelstin Burnette and Luevanos combined for a block on match point to complete the sweep.
Richards led SMWC with 15 assists, Ariana Cruz Gonzalez added 13 and
Ayiana Nieves finished with eight. Virella paced the defense with 11 digs, while
Gaby Fernandez added eight. Ash contributed three of the Pomeroys' eight aces and collected six digs.
SMWC finished with a 47-22 advantage in kills and held Brescia to a .050 hitting percentage. Luevanos led the Pomeroys at the net with three block assists.
