WATERBURY, Conn.  – Owners of the best record in the East Region after Thursday night's 3-0 sweep of Southern Connecticut State University at home, Post University Women's Volleyball has shown no signs of slowing down with a 17-3 record, which is its best start since 2016 when they began the season 24-3 overall. Already locking up a spot in the CACC Tournament next month and playing in their penultimate non-conference match, graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric unleashed her best performance of the season with 20 kills and a season-high .381 attack percentage to lead the Eagles to victory. 

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Southern Connecticut State University 0

Post University (17-3)

Southern Connecticut State University (12-5)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Peric would not be the only key contributor to the win as freshman outside hitter Elyana Ortiz attacked at a .368 clip with nine kills and only two errors on 19 total attempts for a Post team that had just 16 attack errors for the match. As a team, the Eagles finished with a .233 attack percentage, while the defense held the Owls to a .051 attack percentage, despite senior right-side hitter Sydney Bennett leading the way with 10 kills on 23 attempts and a .391 attack percentage.

Bennett was the only Southern Connecticut player to reach double-digit kills, while junior libero Sara Henault was the only player to hit double-digit digs with 13, but led all players on both sides with that mark. For Post, senior libero Alyssa Groves needed just 12 digs, and graduate setter Alice DiFrancesco had 10 digs en route to her tenth consecutive double-double, after finishing with a game-high 29 assists offensively. 

Sophomore middle blocker Alani Duncan may have had a quiet game on the offensive side of the ball with only three kills on six attempts for a .333 attack percentage, but defensively, she led the way with six total blocks, including two block solos in the sweep. Junior outside hitter Neeyah Shahid-Stevenson performed similarly with only one kill, but four block assists in the match, as well as two digs on a night where the Eagles accumulated only 47 digs as a team. 

In all, there were eight total ties, four of which came in the first set, and four lead changes, which all came in the first set. Post led the first set, 3-0, before the Owls got three kills from Bennett on a 4-0 run to take the lead back, and after trailing 11-10, a 3-0 run from the Eagles started by Peric's kill marked the final time in the entire match that Post would find themselves behind the rest of the way. 

After winning set one, 25-22, the Eagles never relinquished the lead in set two, using a 6-0 run halfway through to pull away from an 11-point victory, 25-14, and then only being tied at five, 14, and 20, in the third set, which they won 25-21. Out of their 17 wins so far this season, Post has come out on top via sweep in seven of those matches while winning in four sets five times, and in five sets six times. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sitting at 2,315 career digs after tonight's match, Alyssa Groves is only 208 digs away from surpassing Chestnut Hill College's Regina Trabosh for the most digs in CACC history, with 2,533 career digs from 2013-16
• Between her time at AIC and Post University, Alice DiFrancesco entered the match with 1,900 career assists, with 28 assists tonight, she moves to 72 assists away from 2,000 in her career
• This is the first time since the four-match winning streak from 2002-2005 in which Post University has beaten Southern Connecticut State University, as they are now 8-16 all-time against the Owls 
• At 17-3 this season, Post University is off to its best start since the 2016 season, in which they began the year with a 24-3 record before ending the season 26-6 -- That year also coincides with the only season the Eagles were undefeated at home, going a perfect 13-0, whereas this year they are currently 8-0 at home with five matches left following tonight's win 

WHO'S NEXT
Returning to conference play, Post University will face Chestnut Hill College at home on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM in its second game of the three-game homestand. The Eagles have split their last four matchups with the Griffins since the 2021 season, beating them on the road last year in five sets, 3-2.