PHILADELPHIA- The La Salle volleyball team grabbed a 3-0 (29-27, 25-13, 25-13) win over visiting Lafayette on Tuesday night at Tom Gola Arena. Sophomore Bryanna Davis led the attack with 16 kills and a hitting percentage of .452 on the night.
 
The Explorers (3-1) were aided offensively by senior Laura Kuhlmeier who added 11 kills of her own for her second game of the season finishing with double-digit kills.
 
"We asked Bryanna to step into Kelly Perillo's outside hitting role," added head coach Caitlin Rimgiala. "We told her that we needed consistency on the outside. She needed to play controlled volleyball and she was able to find the court and she had a standout game."
 
La Salle was able to grind out a 29-27 win in set one to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. The two teams were tied at 20 different points throughout the set. The Explorers held a 10-6 lead but the Leopard battled back and the rest of the set was tight. Two straight attacking errors from Lafayette ultimately gave La Salle the set. Davis paced the Explorers with eight kills in the frame while hitting .438. Kuhlmeier added six kills of her own.
 
Set two saw La Salle jump out to an early lead and not look back on their way to a 25-13 set win. The Explorers closed the set on a 9-2 run that featured kills from three different players and a plethora of hitting errors from Lafayette. La Salle forced 11 errors in the second set alone. Freshman Jensen Sharrits added six digs in the frame.
 
"Jensen has been a rock for us in the back row," said Rimgiala. "She struggled a bit in set one on serve receive, but was able to regroup and pass in system through sets two and three. That was a big difference in our offensive production."
 
The third frame was much of the same as La Salle jumped out to a 10-3 lead early in the set and never looked back on its way to closing out the match with a 25-13 set win. Davis lead the way with four kills while Kuhlmeier added three of her own in the final frame.
 
Sharrits finished the night with 17 digs while fellow freshman Taylor Hite led the way with 22 assists. Junior Ashley Felton finished with four blocks while sophomore Rachel Carr added three of her own.

"Taylor has a maturity about her for a freshman," stated Rimgaila. "She is able to run an effective offense very early in the season. She also is a solid attacker as well and her own offensive production takes some pressure off of our hitters."
 
La Salle returns to action this weekend when they head to Louisiana for the New Orleans Invitational which they open on Friday at 3 p.m. against Eastern Washington.