BOCA RATON, Fla. – In a battle of teams receiving votes in the most recent AVCA Top 25 poll, the Lynn University volleyball team collected arguably its best outing of the young season in a 3-0 win over visiting Rockhurst to open the 2023 Hyatt Place Bash at the Beach, Friday evening.
 
Lynn improves to 4-2 with its third-straight win, but more importantly, it pushed its home winning streak to eight matches dating back to last season. All eight of those matches have come via 3-0 shutout.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Fighting Knights hit a dominating .350 behind 47 kills, while limiting the Hawks to just 33 kills
- The loss is the first of the season for Rockhurst (4-1)
- Lynn posted six blocks, 46 digs and held the Hawks to a .136 hitting percentage
- Graduate student Samantha Wolf made her season debut with a match-best 11 kills to go along with nine digs
- Graduate Kenidy Howard hit .800 with nine kills
- Junior Aline Olegario and Wolf each smacked a pair of kills as Lynn took a 5-2 edge in set one
- Junior Cecilia Maria Pinho added three kills for a 15-12 lead
- Lynn closed set one with a 6-1 and 3-0 run for a 25-17 win
- Wolf put an exclamation point on the first game with the final kill
- The Fighting Knights hit .389 in the second set
- Lynn rallied from an early deficit with a 3-0 run that tied things at six and later captured a 4-1 scoring run for a 12-10 lead
- Rockhurst battled back to knot things at 16 before two kills from Howard helped Lynn to a 23-18 advantage
- Olegario smacked two kills to seal the 25-21 set two victory
- The Fighting Knights closed the night in set three with a .375 hitting percentage and two large scoring runs
- The first was a 7-0 scoring jolt that gave the hosts a 9-3 cushion
- The second was an 8-1 run that turned a 15-9 edge into a 23-10 lead
- The second jolt was fueled by four kills from Wolf
- Wolf and graduate Dayana Chara hit the night's final two kills for the 25-14 set three win
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS
- Olegario contributed nine kills behind a .389 hitting percentage
- Cecilia Pinho added eight kills and Chara finished with six
- Graduate Emily Edwards passed out 39 assists with five digs and three kills
- Junior Isabella Gentile posted a team-high 10 digs
- Wolf and graduate Breeanna Long added nine digs
 
UP NEXT:
- The de Hoernle Sports Center will host three games on the second day of the Hyatt Place Bash at the Beach on Saturday
- Lynn hosts Wheeling at 1:00 pm, Nova Southeastern and Wheeling play at 4:00 pm before Lynn hosts Maryville at 7:00 pm