GLEN MILLS, PA- The Cheyney University volleyball team opened the 2023 campaign and the Kennetha Wallace era as the head coach, with a spirited debut performance on Tuesday night, but ultimately lost in three sets to visiting York University of Pennsylvania inside the Glen Mills Schools Rec Center.
The Spartans improved to 6-2 on the season with its fourth consecutive victory with scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-13.
Junior Jireh Kelly (Salisbury, MD) paced the Wolves with five kills and added four digs on the night. The spirited Cheyney faithful of students and alumni created a great atmosphere for the match and let a loud "boom" each time Kelly attempted an attack.
Sophomore Kennedy Jones (Havertown, PA) and freshman Paris Coaxum (Philadelphia, PA) each recorded a team-high six digs, while junior Julia Kinney-Bell (Hyattsville, MD) registered one and a half blocks to lead all players as Cheyney had three total blocks during the match, senior Hassana Coleman (Philadelphia,PA) was credited with a half block, a kill and three digs on the night .
The Spartans jumped out to an 8-0 lead to open the match, and led 13-5, when the Wolves responded with four-point run to pull within 13-9.
Jones started the streak with an excellent serve that led to a Spartan attack error, and Junior Vita Fitch (York, PA), who led the Wolves with four assists, set up Kelly for back-to-back kills as the crowd echoed with "boom" as the ball was struck.
With the score at 16-11 York would reel off nine of the final 10 points of the set to capture the set 25-12.
The second set saw the Spartans once again jump out front with the first five points. Cheyney fought back with three straight points culminating with an ace from Coaxum, to make it a 5-3 score. York went on another six-point outburst to pull away and close with an identical 25-12 second set score.
The final set had a similar story with the Spartans jumping out to a 13-3 advantage and race to a 25-13 victory.
Cheyney returns to the court on Thursday, September 14, when it travels to take on Penn-State Lehigh Valley, inside Willam Allen High School, (106 N. 17th St. Allentown, PA), with the first serve scheduled for 7:00 PM. You can watch the match at this LINK
The Wolves then travel to take on Immaculata University on Friday for another 7:00 PM first serve vs the Mighty Macs. LIVE-STATS and VIDEO are available for the match.
Cheyney will be back in action at Glen Mills on Wednesday September 20, for a 7:00 match with Montgomery County Community College. We expect to have a live-stream and live-stats available for the match.
