Macayla Lindner and Kass Kimmel combined for 23 kills as the Chestnut Hill College Women's Volleyball team won their first conference game of the season, defeating Wilmington University 3-0 Tuesday night st Sorgenti Arena.
The Griffins improve to 5-10 overall and 1-3 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games. The Wildcats fall to 4-13 overall and 3-2 in league play.
The Griffins took the opening set 25-22 and proceeded to complete the sweep with 35-18 and 25-21 wins in the next two sets.
Lindner led all players with 12 kills and just two attack errors in 27 attempts (.370 attack%) while Kimmel added 11 kills Katelyn Dougherty led all players with three service aces while Sarah Allen chipped in two. Sofia Rodriguez had 32 assists setting the Chestnut Hill offense.
On the defensive side, Alex Crespin had 17 digs while Rachel Mace chipped in ten. Kayle Arozio recorded three blocks (two solo) while Micah McKenzie added two solo blocks.
Chestnut Hill never trailed in the opening set, jumping out to an early 8-3 lead following a kill from Lindner. The junior hitter added two more kills over the next six rallies as the Griffins extended the lead to 12-5.  The Wildcats came back to tie the set at 17-17 before three straight points, capped by a Dougherty ace put the Griffins ahead by three 20-17. Two kills from Lindner and another from Arozio pushed the lead to 23-19. Wilmington closed within two 24-22 before Kimmel shut door with a kill for the final point of the set.
The Wildcats scored first to open the second set, followed by three straight Griffin points. Chestnut Hill later opened up a 13-8 lead forcing a Wildcat timeout. A 6-2 run by the visitors cut the lead to one, 15-14 before the Griffins exploded with a 7-1 run to take a 22-15 lead, en route to a 25-28 win in the set to lead the match 2-0.
 HA 7-3 run in the third set by the Wildcats broke a 3-3 tie and gave Wilmington an early 10-6 lead in the third set. The Wildcats still led by four, 15-11 when the Griffins went on an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the set at 19-17 following a Kimmel kill. Another Kimmel kill increased the lead to three, 21-18 and a block from the sophomore hitter on a WU attack upped the lead to 23-20. Two Wildcat attack errors led to the final two Griffin points as they won the set, 25-21 to complete the 3-0 sweep.
For the match, the griffins recorded 35 kills to Wilmington's 30 and had a better attack percentage (.140, 35-19-114) than the Wildcats (.053, 30-24-114). Chestnut Hill held a 6-1 advantage in aces and a 6-3 advantage in team blocks. The Wildcats recorded two more digs than the Griffins, 54-52.
The women's volleyball team returns to action on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 when the host Shippensburg University. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.
