Royals Roll Past Gophers in Straight Sets

BALTIMORE, MD - The Goucher Gophers welcomed the University of Scranton Royals to the Decker Sports and Recreation Center for a Landmark Conference matchup on Wednesday night. Despite a strong start and moments of strong offensive , the Royals swept the match in straight sets, maintaining control throughout the contest.

Goucher opened the first set with promise, capitalizing on three early Scranton errors and a kill from Lucille Hendricks. The Gophers continued to apply pressure with two well-placed attacks from Alex Dzhygit and another kill from Liv DeBiasio. A thunderous swing from Kelsi Hockaday brought the Gophers within three, narrowing Scranton's lead to 12-9. However, the Royals pulled ahead, ultimately taking the set 25-14 despite late kills from Hendricks and Dzhygit.

The second set saw early contributions from Hendricks and DeBiasio, but Scranton responded with a five-point run to seize a 10-5 lead. Goucher fought back with a kill from Kanay Parham, assisted by Alex Jordan, followed by more offense from Parham and DeBiasio. Still, the Royals maintained control and cruised to a 25-11 set win.

In the final set, Dzhygit and DeBiasio once again sparked the Goucher offense, but Scranton proved difficult to overcome. The Royals jumped out to a 10-5 advantage and launched a nine-point scoring run to put the set out of reach. Dzhygit added two more kills, and Goucher picked up points from a handful of Scranton errors, but the Royals closed the match with a 25-12 finish.

Dzhygit led the Gophers with six kills, followed by DeBiasio with five. Sofia Ortiz paced the team with 11 of Goucher's 18 assists, while Athena Savick anchored the defense with a match-high 13 digs. Ortiz added 11 digs of her own.

The Gophers will return to action on Saturday, October 18, hosting Drew University in another key conference matchup. The noon game will also serve as Goucher's Senior Day celebration.