No. 16 Richard Bland Powers Past Southwest Virginia and Cleveland in Quad-Match

SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, VA — The No. 16 Richard Bland College Women's Volleyball team delivered a strong showing on Saturday, earning back-to-back victories, 3-1 over Southwest Virginia Community College and 3-0 against Cleveland Community College in a Region 10 quad-match at Statesman Hall. With the pair of wins, the Statesmen improved to 16-3 overall and 6-1 in Region 10 play.

Richard Bland opened the day with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Southwest Virginia, rallying after dropping the second set to secure the match by scores of 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, and 25-22. In the afternoon matchup, the Statesmen again showed resilience, defeating Cleveland 25-23, 25-23, and 25-15.

Taelin Connolley headlined the attack, recording 22 kills in each match while adding 25 digs against Southwest Virginia and 10 more versus Cleveland. Connolley finished the day with 49.5 total points. Gabrielle Meador matched the offensive firepower, producing 10 kills on a .300 clip with 15 digs and two aces against Southwest Virginia, before turning in 11 kills on a blistering .450 hitting percentage with two more aces in the Cleveland win.

Ava Ginn chipped in six kills versus Southwest Virginia and added two more in the Cleveland match, while Marisa Furner anchored the net with a combined seven kills and nine blocks across the day. Aliyah Millner added seven kills and five block assists in the two matches.

The setting tandem of Kaylie Klemm and Rachelle Martin kept the offense in rhythm. Klemm dished out 29 assists in the opening match and 22 more in the second, while Martin totaled 26 assists on the day along with three service aces.

Defensively, libero Kristen Mathes was a stabilizing force, collecting 25 digs against Southwest Virginia and 21 more versus Cleveland while also contributing two service aces.

As a team, Richard Bland tallied 102 kills across the two matches while holding both opponents under a combined .150 hitting percentage. The Statesmen also finished the day with 12 service aces, 21 block assists, and 146 digs.

The Statesmen return to action this evening, Monday, October 6^th in a 6pm match at No. 2 (DIII) Sandhills Community College.

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