WORCESTER, Mass.— The Holy Cross volleyball team swept the Merrimack Warriors, 3-0, on Wednesday night in Blaney Gymnasium. Holy Cross claimed its first win of the season and moved to 1-3 on the season, while the Warriors dropped to 0-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Holy Cross jumped out to a 13-4 lead, powered by three straight service aces from Mia Hofacker. The Crusaders used their momentum to take a 25-13 win in set one and 1-0 lead overall.
• Set two was a back-and-forth affair in the beginning with the score eventually knotting up at 12-12. Two straight attack errors pushed the score to 15-13 in favor of the Crusaders and they never looked back. Holy Cross claimed the 25-17 win off a service error from Merrimack to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• In the final set, Merrimack jumped out to a 5-3 lead before the Crusader regained control of the set. Two straight kills from Abbie Lane pushed the score to 10-7. At the end of the set, Merrimack held off match point three times before a service error from the Warriors ended the set at 25-19 and gave the Crusaders a 3-0 victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• With the win, the Crusaders now own an all-time record of 2-0 against Merrimack.
• Gracyn Benck and Abbie Lane tied to lead all players with nine kills.
• Halle Carter led all players with 25 assists.
• Mia Hofacker had five aces, 12 digs and three blocks for an all-around performance.
• Holy Cross has now won four home openers in a row dating back tot he 2018 season.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will head to a tournament hosted by Bryant, first facing Boston College on Friday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.
• Then on Saturday, Sept. 4 the Crusaders will face host Bryant at 1 p.m. and Brown at 4 p.m.