HUNTINGTON, WV – The Wright State volleyball team capped off the first weekend of 2022 with its second straight afternoon win, downing tournament host Marshall in four sets on Saturday.
 
The Raiders (2-0) took the opening two sets with ease (25-16, 25-15) as Marshall responded with a pair of challenging final sets, as the Thundering Herd (1-1) won the third set 27-25 and Wright State closed the afternoon with a 25-23 final set.
 
Wright State was led by Callie Martin's career-high 24 kills as she notched her first double-double of the season after adding 15 digs, while Lainey Stephenson had a double-double of her own, passing out 57 of the Raiders' 65 assists while collecting 14 digs of her own. Jenna Story had a match-high 27 digs and has now recorded double figure digs in 33 consecutive matches, dating back to last season.
 
The trio of Martin, Story and Stephenson were recognized on the Marshall Invitational All-Tournament Team later Saturday afternoon, with Stephenson named tournament MVP after tallying 98 total assists (12.28 assists per set) over the opening two matches, while Martin recorded 39.5 points and 33 kills (4.13 per set) this weekend to go with eight blocks. Story averaged 5.25 digs per set (42 total) and tacked on five service aces to her weekend stat line.
 
Megan Alders also finished with double figure kills Saturday against Marshall with 11, Tayler Bransfield, Aaliyah Byers and Sam Ott all had seven kills. Byers led all players with six blocks, while Martin added three and Alders had two. As a group, Wright State recorded 10 service aces in the win, paced by four from Story and a pair each from Ott and Jenny Morey.
 
SET ONE
Wright State jumped out to a 6-2 early lead before Marshall responded with a stretch of six of seven points knot the score at 9-all. The Raiders rolled off three straight points behind kills from Alders and Stephenson to take an 18-14 advantage and didn't look back, closing the set on a 5-0 run thanks to two kills from Byers and a kill each from Martin and Ott.
 
SET TWO
The early portions of the second set were similar to the first, as each side traded points and Marshall actually held an 8-5 advantage. The Raiders tallied six of the next seven points to regain the lead, only to see the Herd knot the score at 11-all. Wright State rolled off a 10-1 run thanks to three service aces, two kills from Byers, and solo kills from Bransfield, Martin and Ott to push out to a 21-12 margin, closing the set minutes later on a 4-1 run and a final kill from Ott.
 
SET THREE
A back-and-forth set from the start, neither side led by more than two until the Raiders grabbed the upper hand at 21-18 thanks to a Bransfield kill and Marshall attacking error. Marshall rolled off three straight points to tie the set at 22-all before Wright State reached set and match point on back-to-back kills from Byers and Stephenson. Three straight kills for the Herd gave them the upper hand at 25-24, with the set tied briefly by Ott before the hosts closed the set with back-to-back kills.
 
SET FOUR
Wright State jumped ahead early, tallying the first four points and leading 6-1 before a 5-0 run by Marshall pulled things even. Back-and-forth from there, the margin never grew more than three points on either side. A Seiler Hruska kill for the Raiders tied the set at 20-all and was followed by a kill from Martin to before the sides traded points again, landing at 23-all. Wright State reached set point on a kill from Alders before Stephenson caught Marshall off guard with a dump over to close the set and the afternoon.