OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Continuing a stong run through the last two weeks, the Captains have now won six of the last seven matches after picking up a 3-1 win at Stevenson followed by a neutral site win, 3-0, against Notre Dame (Md.) on Friday night. Christopher Newport volleyball improved to 8-4 on the season with the wins at Owings Mills Gymnasium in Maryland.
The Captains dropped the first set to Stevenson before roaring back and winning the next six for a doubleheader sweep. CNU downed the Mustangs by a score of 18-25, 25-8, 25-20, 25-13 and then dispatched of the Gators in a 25-18, 25-21, 25-12 final.
Avery Hanly matched her career high with 13 kills in the match against Stevenson and sophomore
Madison Rogers logged a new career high with nine in the second bout of the day against Notre Dame University of Maryland. Rogers was also in on a career-high five blocks against the Gators as she helped lead CNU to the second win of the day.
In the first match of the day, the Captains fell behind after a quick burst by the Mustangs to give the home team a 12-4 lead in the opening set. CNU managed to right the ship but not before Stevenson opened the day with a 25-18 win in the first set. From there, though, the Captains took over.
Responding with ferocity, CNU registered the most dominant set victory of the season with a 25-8 win. It was the largest margin of victory since CNU won the opening set at Bridgewater, 25-7, last season. With a three-point lead at 7-4, the Captains caught fire and won 18 of the next 22 points to cruise to the win. Hanly was at the service line for the bulk of the run, serving for 11 straight rallies after starting the roll with a blistering kill into the hardwood off a feed from
Lauren Hobbs. She added three aces in the 10-0 spurt and another kill while
Carley Coghill logged a pair of kills and
Jasmine Williams added one.
The third set was back-and-forth until it was 10-9 Mustangs and the home team scored five straight to open up a six-point edge. Another huge Captains run flipped the scoreboard, though, as CNU scored 11 of the next 12 points to open up a 20-16 advantage. Hobbs and Hanly were the catalysts again with back-to-back kills by Hanly and back-to-back aces by Hobbs. After Stevenson scored, the Captains turned to Hanly again for another rocket before taking over at the line for another lengthy run with the ball in her hand. Williams added another bullet, Coghill had two in a row, and
Emmy Carpenedo punctuated the run with Hobbs assisting on four of the five kills.
The fourth and final set was never in doubt as Christopher Newport opened up a 14-6 advantage. Stevenson closed to within six points once, but the Captains pulled away for a dominant finish, 25-13.
CNU hit .351 against the Mustangs with 51 kills and 50 assists split primarily between Hobbs (21) and
Fielding Croft (23). Hanly had a double-double as she paired her career-high 13 kills with 11 digs while
Maddie Hanes added 14 digs for the CNU defense.
After finishing off the first win of the day, the Captains went into the first ever matchup against Notre Dame (Md.). The momentum carried into the second bout as Christopher Newport jumped out to a 9-4 lead. The Gators rebounded to pull back within one, but the Captains put together another dominant spurt with four straight points and nine of the next 13. Carpenedo and Hobbs finished it off at the service line for the Captains, 25-18.
CNU trailed Notre Dame (Md.), 9-8, in the second set before Croft kickstarted a 12-3 run to dominate the middle portion of the set. The Captains continue to spread the wealth on offense with kills by Williams, Coghill, Rogers, and Carpenedo to take a 20-12 lead. The Gators closed the gap but Hanly continued her strong day with a set-clinching kill from
Elena Gonzales for the win.
Despite falling behind 5-0 in the third set, the Captains were undeterred and quickly turned the five-point deficit into an 13-point win. CNU scored 13 of 15 points to take a 16-8 lead and then added three of the next four to open up a 19-9 advantage.
Sylvia Wargolet and
Phoebe Adams had runs at the service line after Croft's stretch of seven straight points at the stripe for the Captains.
CNU hit .247 in the match with 37 kills and 35 assists.
Maddie Hanes had 14 of CNU's 38 digs. The win also featured the return of
Samantha Dorn, who registered her first kill of the 2026 season. Dorn entered the season 13th all-time in career kills and ninth in career attack attempts.
The Captains return to action on the road Saturday as they travel to Washington, D.C. to take on Catholic University of America and Lebanon Valley College.
