In a battle between the top two volleyball teams in the Central Atlantic collegiate conference south division, Jefferson University and Chestnut Hill College, the Griffins came out on top, handing Jefferson University their first conference loss of the season 3-1 Wednesday night at Sorgenti Arena.

The Griffins improve to 10-12 overall and 8-4 in league games.  The Rams fall to 10-1 in league play and 13-8 overall.  The win was just the Griffins sixth against the Rams in 30 career meetings and their first since Chestnut Hill swept the season series back in 2019.

The two teams split the first two sets with the Griffins winning the opener 25-18 and the Rams taking set two 25-17.  Chestnut Hill trailed in the third set 24-22 but scored the final four points to win 26-24 before turning in a dominant performance in the fourth set, leading by as many as ten points before settling in for a 25-17 win to take the set and the match 3-1.

Rachel Mace and Erika Dubosky again led the Griffins, with both athletes recording double-doubles.  Mace led all players with 15 kills while also recording a game high 21 digs.  Dubosky had 11 kills and 11 digs.  Angela April had a season high nine kills and did not have an attack error (9-0-19).   Mia Caporellie had 47 assists and three service aces.  Mace and Natalie Albin also had three aces on the night.

On the defensive side Albin and Chloe Mettille joined Mace and Dubosky in double figures for digs with 15 and ten respectively.  Maya Hopson had four blocks while Mace added three.

The Rams jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set before the Griffins rallied to tie the score at 8-8.  Three more ties followed before the Griffins took their first lead 12-11 following a Ram attack error.  The Rams forced a tie at 15-15 before the Griffins ran off three straight points, the last an Albin ace to take an 18-15 lead.  Jefferson pulled within one, but the Griffins came through with four straight points to lead 22-17.  Jefferson added a kill before the Griffins closed out the match with three straight points, capped by a kill from April.

Seven ties and four lead changed highlighted the first half of the second set with the Griffins trailing by one 13-12.  Jefferson followed with a 7-1 run to lead 20-14 as they went on to win the set 25-17 and tie the match at 1-1.

The Rams scored the first four points of the third set before the griffins rallied with a 9-4 run to take their first lead of the set.  Chestnut Hill extended the margin to three 13-10 and later to five 16-11.  The Rams came back with an 8-2 run to retake the lead 19-18 and force a CHC timeout.  The Griffins scored on four of the next six rallies to retake the lead 22-21 before the Rams came within a point of taking a 2-1 lead in the match with three straight points and a 24-22 lead in the set.   Jefferson's first service error of the match brought the Griffins one point closer then Caporellie followed with an ace to tie the score at 24-24.  Two rallies later, April's kill sealed the win in the set 26-24 and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Three ties and a lead change all occurred in the first eight rallies of the fourth set with both teams deadlocked at 4-4.  The Griffins then took over with an 11-1 uprising to forge a commanding 15-5 lead. Three kills from Hopson highlighted the run along with a pair of kills from Dubosky.  Jefferson chipped away at the lead coming as close as six with small surges of offense on two occasions, only to see the Griffins stop the Ram runs with a well placed kill.  Chestnut Hill's last seven points all came from kills or aces with Mace notching two kills and an ace and Dubosky also adding two kills, including the game winner that game the Griffins the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.

The Griffins volleyball team remains home for the next contest, a November 2 clash with another Philadelphia rival Holy Family University.  Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Sorgenti Arena.