ST. AUGUSTINE – The Flagler College volleyball team won its first season opener since 2014 with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-20) sweep of Purdue University Northwest in the third match of the Flagler Invitational Friday night at Flagler Gymnasium.

Purdue Northwest defeated Shippensburg University, 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-10) in the tourney opener and Florida Tech squeezed by Shippensburg 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-12).

The Saints overcame a shaky first game where they hit .189 (15 kills and eight errors on 37 swings) with a dominating second game with a robust .423 percentage (13-2-26).  

Sara Davis led a balanced offensive attack with a match-high 12 kills and a .526 hitting percentage. She only had two errors on 19 swings and added six digs and three service aces. Taja Valmyr added 10 kills and had two solo blocks. Armstrong State University transfer Raquel Kulak hit .467 with nine kills on 15 swings with two errors. Tara Savisky tallied 32 assists and corralled seven digs while Kayla Norelli paced the defense with a match-high 12 digs.

Morgan Spencer and Gabrielle Martin each recorded nine kills for Purdue Northwest, a program in its second year of provisional status in NCAA Division II. Carissa Jones collected nine digs while Brooke Ahrens added 21 assists.

The Pride hit a respectable .226 in the first set with 12 kills and only five errors on 31 swings. That offensive production helped the Pride keep pace with the Saints in a 25-23 loss.

Flagler pulled away in the second half with a quick 3-0 burst, capped by a service ace from freshman Karlie Redfern, which gave the Saints a 17-11 lead.

The Pride rallied in the third set and trailed 19-18 after a service error by Davis. However, the Flagler front line recorded back-to-back blocks from Valmyr and Cadie O'Hern. Kulak capped the run with a kill of her own to widen the gap to 22-18.

Flagler takes on Shippensburg at noon tomorrow and will conclude the tournament against Florida Tech at 7 p.m.



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