PAXTON, Mass. - The Norwich University women's volleyball team strung together one of the best performances of the 2024 season, securing a 3-1 victory (25-18, 18-25, 25-18, 25-13) over Anna Maria College before falling (15-25, 5-25, 13-25) to Saint Joseph's College of Maine in the season finale on Saturday afternoon at Fuller Activities Center.

The Cadets opened the affair with a back-and-forth contest against the AMCATS, exchanging leads in the opening set before surging behind an early deficit on a 14-3 spurt to double up Anna Maria, 20-10.  The AMCATS attempted to make a run, whittling the lead down to six, but a kill from Abby Kanaga (Apopka, Fla.) handed the Cadets the first set.

The second frame saw both sides flip roles, as a spark halfway through by Anna Maria knotted the match at 1-all, but the Cadets regained momentum in the third stanza.  A strong 6-0 run by the Cadets, complete with a pair of Giovanna Fruci (Wrentham, Mass.) service aces, kills from Bella Belldina Ray (Martinsburg, W.Va.) and Lillie Ells (Centerville, Mass.), and errors by the AMCATS, granted the visitors enough fire to take the third.

Norwich could not be stopped in the fourth, stampeding to a swift 10-1 advantage and never looking back.  The Cadets doubled up on Anna Maria on several occasions, sealing the deal with four straight points, courtesy of a trio of kills from Fruci, Kanaga, and Katie Finn (Peru, N.Y.) before an attack error off a Kanaga block capped off the win.

Belldina Ray was a dominant force, racking up 11 kills to go with a pair of solo blocks.  Kanaga and Ells tallied nine kills apiece, with Ells also adding 12 digs.  Ava Nihill (Marshfield, Mass.) posted a double-double of 26 assists and 12 digs, while Autumn Parkhurst (Parish, N.Y.) recorded a team-best 13 digs.

The Monks asserted themselves quickly in Norwich's second match, capturing an early double-digit lead before the Cadets began to mount a comeback.  The visitors were able to trim the edge down to single digits on several occasions, but the Saint Joseph's storm was too much for Norwich to handle throughout the three-set affair.

Kanaga paced the maroon and gold in kills against the Monks with three while also registering three block assists.  Fruci earned a team-best 10 digs, while Nihill handed out eight helpers.

The weekend marks the season finale for the Cadets.