PHILADELPHIA – After falling to Kutztown to begin its day, the HFU volleyball team responded in resounding fashion by sweeping Southern Connecticut State for its first win of the 2022 season in its home-opener on Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center. 
 
The Tigers put an exclamation on the sweep by dropping just nine points in the third set. 
 
Southern Connecticut State (25-19, 25-18, 25-9)

Individual Highlights

• Making her home debut, freshman Isabella Mosquera (West Chicago, Ill./Saint Charles East) fell one kill shy of a second straight double-digit performance, and she set a new season-high in blocks for the second time on the day with a match-high seven
• Morgan Steck (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) led a second straight match in assists, this time with a career-high 35, while Faith Zehnder (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) led both matches in digs, posting 16 in the nightcap
• Making her first start of the season, Allyssa Hartney (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) led all players with 12 kills while swinging .226 
• Natasha Yanief (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) (12) and Mainerys Munoz (Stafford, Va./North Stafford) (11) also posted double-figure digs, a career-best for the former and a season-high for the latter
• Yanief was also second on HFU with seven kills on .261 hitting, while Skylar Osenkarski (Harding, Pa./Holy Redeemer) added six on .308 hitting
• Brianna Moss' (Gainesville, Va./Battlefield) six digs were a new career-best

 
Inside the Box 

• Holy Family set new season-highs in kills (41), hitting percentage (.283), assists (38), aces (10) and blocks (10)

 
How it Happened
First Set

• Back-to-back kills by Mosquera to start the match highlighted HFU taking the first four points, but SCSU responded six of the next seven points to begin a 13-4 flurry
• A Holy Family timeout led to five straight Tigers points to tie the match at 13-13
• The two teams traded the next the next four points, but a Steck service ace to put HFU ahead 16-15 gave the Tigres the lead for good
• Another Steck ace completed a 10-2 stretch for a 19-15 advantage
• Osenkarski closed out the first with back-to-back kills

Second Set

• This time it was Hartney beginning the set with back-to-back kills as part of HFU taking the first four points, and this time the Tigers would not relinquish the lead as SCSU never got closer than two

Third Set

• Holy Family trailed just once, at 0-1, before scoring the six points, the final three of which Mosquera played a part in, en route to running away with the sweep 

Kutztown (22-25, 18-25, 16-25)

Individual Highlights

• Mosquera led HFU with season-bests of 11 kills and five blocks, the latter of which led all players. She also led all players with a .360 hitting percentage
• Zehnder had nine more digs than any other player with 24, two shy of her career-high
• Steck posted her first career double-double with a match-high 25 assists to go along with a season-best 11 digs 
• Shelby Kinzer (Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington) contributed six kills, while Osenkarski had five on .231 hitting
• Ashley Petrasovic (Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy Memorial) set a new career-high with five digs, while Yanief also had a five for season-best

 
Inside the Box 

• Holy Family out-blocked Kutztown 6-5, and the two teams were separated by just one dig, 63-62
• The Tigers had a higher hitting percentage than the Golden Bears in the first set, and finished with just five fewer kills, 36-31

 
How it Happened
First Set

• Kutztown scored the first four points and led throughout
• Trailing by as many as nine four times, including at 12-21, HFU made a push all the way back to within 22-23 as Mosquera played a part in five points in an 8-1 surge before KU took the final two points after a timeout

Second Set

• The Tiges again found themselves in an early 0-3 hole and after tying the score at 5-5, the Golden Bears scored four straight to take control
• Holy Family only managed to get as close as 7-10 on a Mosquera block

Third Set

• The Tigers took their first lead of the afternoon on a Mosquera kill to begin the set, and the two teams would trade six tied in the opening 22 points before three unanswered gave KU the lead for good

 
Up Next
Holy Family plays in one final tournament next weekend at Wilmington, beginning with a single match against Adelphi on Friday at 10 a.m.