WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sophomore Jireh Kelly (Salisbury, MD) recorded a career-high with 14 kills in the first match and reached double figures again in the second match of the day, as the Cheyney University volleyball team split two matches on Saturday inside the Trinity Washington University Arena in Washington, DC.

Fellow sophomore, Vita Fitch (York, PA) dished out a career-best 13 assists in the first match, a three-set loss to Mid-Atlantic Christian University (MACU) (2-11), and then was credited with 11 assists in the nightcap, as the Wolves improved to 2-6 on the season, with a dominating straight set victory over the host Tigers of Trinity, (DC).

MACU, who swept the first match over Tigers, scored the first four points of the match, before Kelly responded with the first two kills for Cheyney points, from Fitch. With the Wolves trailing 7-4, Fitch recorded a kill, to spark a five-point run, to give the Wolves their first lead of the contest at 9-7. Kelly served two aces during the run.

Four straight from the Mustangs gave them an 11-9 advantage, which was quickly countered as the Wolves evened the scored at 11-11 following a block by senior Veronica Martin (Philadelphia, PA) and freshman Kennedy Jones (Havertown, PA). MACU then scored eight of the next nine points to build a 19-12 advantage.

Cheyney chipped away at the lead and pulled within 22-19 after a Hassana Coleman (Philadelphia,PA) kill. With the score at 24-20, the Wolves fought back again, with Coleman serving, and brought it to a one-point contest with a kill from Jones making it 24-23, but MACU closed out the set with a 25-23 victory.

The second set was tight early on, and the Mustangs held a 10-9 lead. MACU broke open the set with a 6-1 burst and went on to a 25-16 victory.

Cheyney held a slim 5-4 lead in the third, only to see MACU register 15 points in a row to take control and eventually take the set and the match 25-10.

The Wolves bolted to a 7-0 lead with Jones serving, in the final match of the day vs the Tigers. The freshman registered three aces during streak. Cheyney again went on a run with Kelly serving and turned a 10-5 advantage into a 17-5 lead following three-consecutive Kelly aces. Cheyney then closed out the set, with Jones serving, with the final five-points, and a kill by Kelly from Fitch.

Cheyney raced out to a 10-2 lead in the second set, keyed by three aces from Fitch, and closed the set 25-13 on Back-to-back kills by Kelly from Fitch.

The third set saw the Tigers keep it close and only trailed 5-4, but back-to-back kills by Jones made it 8-4 for the Wolves, and an ace from junior Julia Kinney-Bell (Hyattsville, MD), gave Cheyney a 10-5 edge. With Coleman serving, the Wolves pushed their lead to 14-6, keyed by two aces from the senior. Coleman also served the final point of the match as Cheyney finished off the sweep.

Jones had eight of Cheyney's 20 aces, Coleman, Martin, Fitch and Kelly were each credited with three apiece.

Martin, who paced the Wolves with four digs, in the second match, and a team-high nine in the two matches, also had five kills, two aces and an assist.
 
Fitch recorded eight kills and five aces on the day to go along with 25 assists. Kelly closed the day with 25 kills on 45 attempts hitting over .400 in both matches, with six aces.

Cheyney returns home on Tuesday night for the Battle of the First, part two, as the Lincoln Lions come to Cope Hall, for the Lions lone visit in any sport, with the first serve scheduled for 7 PM.