WATERBURY, Conn. – Another pair of sweeps for Post University Women's Volleyball in their Saturday tri-match at home against Saint Michael's College and St. Thomas Aquinas College has the hot start to the season continuing for the Eagles. Now a program-best 9-0 to start the 2025 season, Post has rattled off four consecutive sweeps after three straight nail-biting five-set finishes just before that, heading into their five-game road trip, which begins next week. 

THE BASICS

Post University 3, Saint Michael's College 0 

Post University 3, St. Thomas Aquinas College 0

Post University (9-0)

Saint Michael's College (2-8)

St. Thomas Aquinas College (2-6)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The big three of graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric, graduate setter Alice DiFrancesco, and senior libero Alyssa Groves all led the team on the day in the respective categories they have in nearly every match so far this season. Peric has a team-best 24 kills on 84 attempts with only nine errors for a .179 attack percentage and was one of only two Eagles to finish with 10-plus kills, along with sophomore middle blocker Alani Duncan, who had 11 on 22 attempts with only two errors for a .409 attack percentage across the two games. 

As for DiFrancesco, she registered 48 assists to go along with her 24 digs, six kills on 15 attempts with only one error, and four service aces. In the service aces category, it was Groves leading the way with a team-high of eight in two games to go along with her team-best 31 digs as she creeps closer and closer to potentially making Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference history for the most digs in the history of the conference. 

The first sweep of the day did not come without some adversity as the Purple Knights jumped out to a five-point lead on two occasions and led until a 3-0 run by Peric and Groves made it 18-17. Faced with a set point twice, the Eagles were able to overcome it both times, eventually going on one last 3-0 run to secure a 27-25 win in set one. From that point on, Post would never trail again in the affair, only being faced with three ties in the third set with Saint Michael's, but taking set two, 25-19, and set three, 25-21.

Peric had 15 of her kills, while DiFrancesco accounted for 26 assists in a match where Post did not allow a single Purple Knight attacker to reach double-digit kills, as both senior opposite hitter Dana Welch and sophomore outside hitter Nora Schulze had nine kills each. 

Against St. Thomas Aquinas College, which was coming off a five-set victory over the Purple Knights only 30 minutes before their match with Post, the back-and-forth sweep would see 16 ties and 11 lead changes across the three sets. Neither team had a player reach double-digit kills, but defensively, the Eagles pieced together 14 block assists and two block solos for a total of nine blocks in the match.

The block party was led by the Shahid-Stevenson sisters in junior outside hitter Nuri and junior middle blocker Neeyah, recording five and four block assists respectively, on top of four Post players reaching double-digit digs. Led by 19 from Groves, DiFrancesco followed close behind with 15 digs, along with Peric at 14 digs, and junior middle blocker Vivien Andrea Fehervari with 11 digs. 

Post separated themselves in set one with a 6-0 run while leading only by two, 15-13, to take their fourth set of the day, 25-16. Another lengthy run while leading 15-14, this time scoring nine straight points, propelled them to a set two win, 25-19, before trailing 19-16 in set three and using a 6-0 run to take the lead for good and earn the sweep with a 25-23 victory. Freshman outside hitter Adriana Zarceno was the lead attacker for the Spartans with nine kills, matching Peric's team-high nine kills for the Eagles. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Kristina Peric is closing in on 1,000 career kills between her time at Quinnipiac University, American International College (AIC), and Post University – After 24 kills tonight, Peric now has 966 career kills
• Sitting at 2,052 career digs after tonight's match, Alyssa Groves is only 481 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 night with 1,611 career assists, and with 28 assists tonight, sits just 341 assists away from 2,000 in her career
• Starting the season 9-0, this is the best start Post University has had in program history, with the previous best being 2-0 in 2002 and 2004

 
WHO'S NEXT
After getting four days off, Post University will embark on a three-game in three days road trip starting on Thursday evening when they face Bentley University, which is currently receiving votes in the last AVCA Division II Top 25 Poll, at 6:00 PM. The Eagles have not beaten the Falcons since their first-ever matchup back in 2016, dropping the last five consecutive, including the last four in sweeps.