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Puschak Nets 1,000th Career Kill as Devils Sweep Eagles
Christine Puschak became the fourth volleyball player in program history to record 1,000 career kills and Cady Rich became the Devils all-time block assist leader as the University of the Sciences women's volleyball closed out their season with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 29-27) sweep of Post University at the Bobby Morgan Arena Saturday afternoon.
A senior middle blocker, Puschak (Conestoga Valley HS/Leola, Pa.) entered the match needing just four kills to reach the milestone and quickly picked up three of them in the opening set. In the opening rally of the second set, Puschak took a set from fellow senior Sarah Hickman (Wilmington Christian School/Newark, Del.) and spiked it down between the Eagle defenders for kill #1,000. Christine finished the match with 14 kills and just three errors, hitting .379 and finishing her career with 1,010. She also recorded four service aces to finish her career with 184, ranking third on the Devils' all-time list.
Rich (Shelton HS/Shelton, Conn.), also a senior middle blocker, reached her milestone a bit quicker. Needing just two block assists to become the Devils all-time leader, Cady reached the mark midway through the opening set, breaking the old mark of 183 set by Michelle Hogga (2003-06). Rich finshed the match with three block assists, giving her 185 for career and adding a solo block closed out her career with 362, the fourth best total in school history. She also added eight kills to finish her career with 921, fifth on the Devils all-time list.
Hickman, the third senior on the Devils squad, became the 12th Devils player in school history to record 600 career digs, recording 10 on the afternoon to finish her career with 609. Sarah also led all players with 19 assists, finishing her career with 2,147, enough to rank second on the Devils all-time list.
Freshman Lauren Mobley (Oxford Area HS/Oxford, Pa.) added seven kills while freshman Diana Solomon (East Islip HS/East Islip, N.Y.) led the devils with 14 digs. Rich also recorded a career high 12 digs. Hickman added three blocks while Puschak chipped in two.
Monique Chance led the Eagles with six kills while Kelly Hayes added five. Teresa Hodges had 18 assists. Elizabeth Knight had four aces and Courtney Braun led all players with 17 digs. Knight also had four blocks in the match.
The Devils took the first two sets, 25-19 and 25-21, but it was the third set that provided most of the excitement for the Devils largest crowd in the stands this season. With the match tied early at 6-6, Post ran off four straight points to take a 10-6 lead, prompting a Sciences timeout. The Eagles continued to expand their lead, boosting it to seven points 17-10 before the Devils started a comeback rally. Sciences shaved one point off the lead and still trailed 18-12 when they forced a sideout and Puschak served the last two of her aces and added a another point on an Eagle attack error to make the score 18-16. After both teams exchanged serves making the score 19-17, Mobley took over the serving duties and Puschak took over with two kills to tie the match before taking the lead with a kill by Rich at 20-19. Sciences increased the lead to 24-22 and needed one point to win the match before the Eagles rallied with two points to even things up at 24-24. Post then took a 26-25 lead before another kill by the Devils tied the set again at 26-26. Post forced a sideout and again regained the lead 27-26 but the Devils returned the favor and regained the serve with the match tied 27-27. A long rally resulted in the go-ahead point for the Devils. On the next rally, an Eagle attack landed wide and the Devils had the set, 29-27 and the match 3-0.
Sciences finished their season with a 9-14 overall record and a 7-12 mark in CACC games. Post drops to 9-21 overall and 7-12 in league play.
