Box Score UTICA, NY - The Utica University volleyball team beat the Wells College Express 3-0 early Saturday afternoon. The win extended the team's win streak to three games.
 
During the first set Wells jumped out to a 4-1 lead, before Utica would come storming back to gain a 5-4 advantage with kills by Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names), and Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee). The Pioneers would continue to rely on their offense as they created a 14-5 lead through kills and a service ace from Lauren Jones (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham ). Wells would close the gap to 14-9 before Utica would go on a scoring run and be up 20-11 in the set. Utica's offense propelled the team to win the first set 25-20 and gain a 1-0 advantage in the match through 16 kills.
 
The second set would be more of the same as Utica's offense kept creating points, yet Wells' offense would awaken. The Pioneers had a hot start and led 5-0 fueled by Maggiore's two service aces. The lead would shorten to 5-3 as Wells started to tighten up on defense. The teams would exchange leads and Wells led 13-11 before the Pioneers leaned on their offense to create a 17-14 advantage. Utica's offense continued to create points as they tallied 11 kills and a .63 hitting percentage as a team and would win the set 25-18 and gain a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
The third set saw the teams exchange leads before Wells would climb out to a 7-4 edge with a pair of kills. Then, Utica's offense stormed back and created a 15-10 lead as Peyton Migliaccio (Suffern, NY/Suffern), Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names), and Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) would all net a kill. A few defensive mishaps by the Pioneers would shorten their lead to a slim 16-15. Yet, the Pioneers went back to their productive offense and won the set 25-17 and the match 3-0. Utica tallied 15 kills and a .52 hitting percentage which aided in creating leads throughout the set.
 
The Pioneers offense continued to create today and amassed 42 kills today. The team leaders were Eleanor Cepiel (West Sand Lake, NY/Academy of Holy Names) with 15, Brianna Woods (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) (eight), and Kurstan Martin (Owego, NY/Tioga) (six). Utica was able to tally nine aces as Maggiore, Woods, and Jones all eclipsed two or more aces. Madison Maggiore (Orangeburg, NY/Tappan Zee) continued to set up her teammates well as she totaled 36 assists. Defensively, the team had 47 digs and Krystell Pappas (Owensboro, KY/Owensboro) had a phenomenal performance with 18 digs. She was able to help the offense get going and help the setters create plenty of points.
 
Utica (11-6, 1-1, Empire 8) will host Keuka College on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to open the final stretch of Empire 8 regular season play.