The Muhlenberg Mules raced out to a 12-2 lead in the first set and never looked back in their Wednesday evening sweep of conference foe Bryn Mawr.
That initial burst was driven by a 10-point run that put the game out of reach early on. That run featured a pair of kills by
Abigail Oswari and one by
Olivia Bruno, but much of the damage was self-inflicted on the part of the Owls, who racked up six attack errors across those 10 points.
That would be a theme of the match, as the Muhlenberg defense stood strong and forced the visitors into low-percentage attacks that they often failed to convert. The Mules held the Owls to a hitting percentage of just -0.058 for the match. That's the second time they've held the opposition to a negative hitting percentage this season, joining a -0.008 mark put up by Alvernia in another Muhlenberg sweep on September 26.
It was much of the same in the second bout, as the hosts quickly turned what was a 3-3 tie into an 11-3 Muhlenberg advantage with an 8-0 run. Oswari chipped in another pair of kills in that spurt, part of a night where she finished with nearly twice as many kills (13) as the runner-up in that category (
Lizzie Steinkamp, with seven).
Three Mules reached double figures in assists:
Ansley Asche led the way with 14,
Jenny Ryan had 12, and
Maddy Budris finished with 10. The leaders in kills also contributed from the service line, as Oswari and Steinkamp both notched a pair of aces. Bruno had two block assists while the rest of the teams' 3.0 total blocks were split amongst multiple players who each had 0.5.
With the win, the Mules move to 2-2 in Centennial Conference action, while the Owls drop to 0-5. That 2-2 mark puts Muhlenberg in a tie with Dickinson and Washington College for fifth in the conference standings.
