WATERBURY, Conn.  – For the second time in three days, graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric came out on fire for Post University Women's Volleyball, leading the way with 24 kills on 46 attempts with only nine errors for another attack percentage above the .300 mark, finishing at .326 in the four-set win for the Eagles over Chestnut Hill College on Saturday afternoon at home, 3-1. 

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Chestnut Hill College 1

Post University (18-3, 8-0 CACC)

Chestnut Hill College (4-16, 1-8 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Six conference matches remain for the Eagles after Saturday's win, with them sitting a perfect 8-0 so far against conference opponents, leading the CACC North Division by two games in the loss column over the University of Bridgeport, which is currently 7-2 overall. Now at 18-3 on the season, Post is off to its best start since 2016 when they were 24-3 overall through 27 matches, which coincided with the only other year they finished undefeated in the Drubner Center. As it stands now, the Eagles are 9-0 at home during the campaign with four more home matches remaining. 

In addition to another big match from Peric, freshman outside hitter Elyana Ortiz, with her family in the stands, erupted for 13 kills on 32 attempts for a .250 attack percentage, marking the third time in the last four matches in which she has reached the double-digit kill mark. Ortiz's single-season record for kills is 14 against Felician University at home back on October 15th. As a team, Post attacked at a blistering .301 percentage for the match, their second-highest of the season, only behind their .439 attack percentage against Caldwell University back in September in a three-set road win.

Among those recording kills, four players for Post finished above .300 for the match as junior outside hitter Neeyah Shahid-Stevenson had three kills for a .429 attack percentage, junior middle blocker Nuri Shahid-Stevenson recorded seven kills for a .308 attack percentage, and graduate setter Alice DiFrancesco netted four kills for a .444 attack percentage. DiFrancesco also had 36 assists, but saw her double-double streak snapped at ten matches with only eight digs, and four service aces. 

In contrast, Chestnut Hill was led by senior outside hitter Nicole Dimiris with 16 kills on 35 attempts for a .343 attack percentage and was matched by junior middle blocker Maya Hopson with 13 kills and a .333 attack percentage. However, the Griffins as a team outside of that duo struggled on the attack with a .148 percentage overall. Freshman libero Sarah Allen had a team-high 18 digs, while junior setter Sarah Rodriguez led all players with 37 assists. 

Post's most dominant set came right at the start in the first one with a 25-14 victory, attacking at a .379 clip compared to a .000 for Chestnut Hill, who had four kills and four errors on 26 total attempts. There would be only one tie score in that first set, at two all, before a 9-0 run by the Eagles, led by four kills from Nuri Shahid-Stevenson, gave them control the rest of the way. Post would play from behind in the next two sets, trailing by five points, 12-7, in the second set, before steadily chipping away and capitalizing on back-to-back errors from the Griffins with the score tied at 23, winning 25-23, to pull within one set of the win. 

However, after looking to be in control during set three with a 17-12 lead, two kills from Hopson and two service aces from freshman middle blocker Micah McKenzie turned the set into an 18 all tie following the 5-0 run by the Griffins. Still, on the brink of the sweep leading 24-23, Post would be unable to close as a service error from Groves and back-to-back service aces by Allen forced a fourth set with Chestnut Hill coming out on top 26-24. 

After trailing 1-0 to start set four, four straight points by the Eagles would allow them to jump in front, and they would never relinquish the lead again. Despite allowing Chestnut Hill to go on a 5-0 run to tie the set at 13 all, another lengthy 7-0 run with things square at 14 would give Post the breathing room they needed to hold off a late rally by the Griffins, taking their eighth conference match of the season in four sets, 3-1, following the 25-21 set victory. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sitting at 2,334 career digs after tonight's match, Alyssa Groves is only 189 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 1,928 career assists, with 36 assists today, she moves to 36 assists away from 2,000 in her career
• Winning their second consecutive match against Chestnut Hill College, this is the first time since 2016 in which Post University has one at least two consecutive matches against the Griffins -- The Eagles have twice won four straight matches against them
• At 18-3 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 9-0 at home with four matches left following tonight's win 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University's three-game homestand ends on Wednesday evening when they welcome Caldwell University to the Drubner Center for a 7:00 PM matchup. The Eagles have won five consecutive matches against the Cougars, all of which have been 3-0 sweeps since 2023.