The Old Westbury women's volleyball team improved to 16-6 overall and 5-1 in Skyline Conference play today with two straight-set victories over Mt. St. Vincent and Polytechnic.
Old Westbury came out aggressive in game one, holding a four-point lead at 9-5. Senior middle hitter Jennifer Hoyt then ripped off 10-straight service points to open the game up 19-6. The Panthers never looked back, taking game one 30-13.
Game two was a back and forth affair with the Panthers edging out the Dolphins 30-27. Senior Middle Hitter Janera Johnson led the Old Westbury offensively, hitting at a .471 clip (10-2-17). Whitney Alexander paced the Panthers with 11 kills, and senior setter Jennifer Ragone chipped in with a match-high 38 assists.
Game three was also a tight game with Mt. St. Vincent opening up to an 8-1 lead. The Panthers battled back to gain a lead at 22-18. Mt. St. Vincent would go on one more run to take back the lead at 26-23, before Senior Libero Stacey Dubin served out the match on seven-straight points for Old Westbury. Dubin finished with a team-high 21 digs.
In match number two, a non-conference game featuring Mt. St. Vincent and Polytechnic, a tightly contested match went to the Dolphins 3 games to 1. Roxanne Predergast led the Dolphins with a game-high 14 kills, while teammate Bridget Leonard dished out 23 assists. Jacqueline Johnson led Polytechnic with 10 kills. Mt. St. Vincent went 1-1 on the day and its record now stands at 8-5 overall and 3-4 in the Skyline.
The Panthers jumped back on the court for match number three to face non-conference foe Polytechnic. Old Westbury once again took the match in three games, winning 30-20, 30-14, and 30-11. The Panthers were paced by senior outside hitter Jessica Ratchford who notched her second double-double this week, finishing with a match high 13 kills and 18 digs.
In game one neither team had a lead larger then four until Old Westbury opened up on a 13-3 run to close out the game. The run started on a Polytech error and ended with an error trying to defend an attack from Old Westbury.
Game two was dominated by Ragone's service run through the middle of the game for seven-straight points featuring three of her four services aces in the match. As a team, the Panthers had 16 kills in game two, while hitting at a .419 percentage.
The Panthers did not take their foot off the gas in game three, winning in the first rotation of service. The star on this run was Hoyt, who had another 10-straight service points with all four of her aces coming in the run. The Panthers cruised to a 30-11 victory.
The Panthers will return to action on Wednesday, October 11 in a rematch against non-conference opponent SUNY Purchase. The Panthers faced Purchase earlier in the year, beating them 3-0 in the first game of the Panther Invitational. The first serve is scheduled for 7pm.