STORRS, Conn.- UConn volleyball closed out the home slate in the first season of the revamped UConn Volleyball Center against the Xavier Musketeers on Saturday afternoon.
Xavier wasted no time, starting the match with an Emma Grace ace. Emma Werkmeister got on the board early with 2 kills, keeping the score tightly contested at 5-all. Grace had an early flurry of 3 kills, with X snagging an advantage at 8-7. In her final match in Storrs, Taylor Pannell sent in her first kill, as UConn took back the lead at 15-12 going into the first media timeout. The Xavier defense swung the pendulum back in favor of the visitors, as blocks from Anna Taylor and Sarah Stevens kickstarted a 4-0 run to go push X in front 18-16. A back-and-forth first frame had the score deadlocked at 23, when Pannell sent set point into the earth to lift the Huskies in the first frame, 25-23.
Werkmeister and McKenna Brand each had aces early in the second, aided by an outstanding effort from Doga Kutlu on a wild rally, as UConn went in front 9-8. The intensity ramped up throughout the second as the BIG EAST foes traded blows to keep the score tight. Pannell and Werkmeister ignited the crowd with loud kills, but Xavier continued to respond, with Taylor and Margo Kemp locking in defensively with a block assist each. The Huskies went on a 4-0 run, punctuated by blocks from Anna Herman and Loren Winn, but X went on a run of their own, as Kemp and Charlotte Moriarty brought the score even yet again at 23-all. The second set marched on, with neither side able to hit the magic 2-point cushion needed to clinch the frame. With the score at 28-27 UConn, Kutlu came up huge in her last match in Storrs, securing the second set with an ace.
Werkmeister and Pannell continued to hold it down for UConn on the attack in the opening moments of the third, bringing the score level at 5. The score remained knotted at 10, when the Huskies began to open their lead on the back of kills from Winn, Werkmeister, and Pannell to jump in front 15-11. Werkmeister took over for UConn, with three kills in rapid succession to run the lead to 22-17. Blocks from Herman and Winn pushed the Musketeers to the match point, where it was the Werkmeister show yet again, as the junior from Victor, N.Y. put the finishing touch on a UConn sweep with her match-leading 16th kill of the afternoon.
Moriarty led the Musketeers with 9 kills in the defeat, as X went 1-1 on the weekend after beating Providence last night.
Home Cooking: With the win, the Huskies finished the 2024 season 14-1 at the UConn Volleyball Center. It was the 8th sweep at home for UConn on the year. The win puts the Huskies in control of their own destiny to clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament.
Up Next: UConn concludes their regular season on the road next weekend, facing off against Villanova and St. John's on Friday and Saturday, respectively. X will return home to match up against Marquette and Creighton next weekend.
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