NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Cadets earned two wins against Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponents with a NU Family Weekend tri-match battle on Friday afternoon.

GAME 1: Norwich vs. St. Joseph

The Cadets picked up their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win of the season with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-9) triumph over the St. Joseph (Conn.) Blue Jays. Norwich hit above the Mendoza line in two of the three sets during the contest en route to the victory. 

Senior Ana Lopez (Laredo, Texas) led the way with a career-high 15 kills in the Cadets' opener, adding a new career-high .667 hitting percentage with 15 kills and only one error on 21 total swings. Junior Laura Farnum (North Andover, Mass.) set a new career high with six aces on the day, adding a team-high 27 digs.

Sophomore Abby Kanaga (Apopka, Fla.) matched a season-high with nine kills and hit at a .818 clip, converting on all but two swings. Senior Maggie McNeil (Gilford, N.H.) secured seven kills and six digs while graduate student Addison Schroeder and junior Leah Mathewson picked up five kills apiece. Senior Sarah Farnum (North Andover, Mass.) assisted on 38 kills and added one of the team's 11 aces.

The first set saw Norwich pull away from the Blue Jays with a 9-3 run that turned a narrow, 8-6 advantage into a commanding, 18-9 lead. In the second, Saint Joseph's cut the Norwich lead to two points at 9-7 but another major run, this time a 12-3 run that included six unanswered points to push the Cadet lead to 21-10. Norwich opened the third set with an 11-point run to establish firm command and held onto the lead down the stretch for the sweep.

GAME 2: St. Joseph vs. Dean

The Dean Bulldogs came storming back from a 2-0 set deficit to capture their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win of the season, 3-2, over Saint Joseph's on Friday afternoon at Andrews Hall on the campus of Norwich University. 

For Dean, senior Sari Albury led the team with 13 kills and three blocks, followed by sophomore Emily LaRouche, who pieced together a full game with nine kills, 12 digs and a block. Junior Bella Driscoll led the Bulldogs with 32 assists and first year Skylar Reskevitz secured a team-high 32 assists. 

Saint Joseph was led by senior Shannon Carey, who scored 14 kills, and senior Hannah Benson, who picked up 11 kills on the evening. Senior libero Natalia Rabassa picked up 31 digs while senior Nicole Albert secured 15 assists and five service aces. 

The Bulldogs held a one-point lead at 4-3 of the first set, but Saint Joseph's rode a six-point run to take a 9-4 advantage. Dean returned the favor with an 8-1 run of its own to take a two-point lead, but an 8-1 Blue Jays swing put Saint Joseph's up by five at 18-13. Ortega would score a set-ending kill to award the Blue Jays the 25-21 set victory and the 1-0 advantage. Saint Joseph would earn the two-set advantage with a seven-point run to start the set, capping off the second with a 9-3 run. 

Dean's comeback began in the third, as a back-and-forth set saw the teams at a 20-20 stalemate. The Bulldogs scored two straight to garner some breathing room, the beginning of a 5-2, set-ending run to cut the Blue Jays' lead in half. Dean erupted out of the gate for a 13-4 lead in the fourth, tying the match with a 6-1 run to force the decisive fifth.  

The Bulldogs had a chance to clinch with their first match point of the game at 15-14, but Saint Joseph forced extra points with a kill by Carey. However, a kill from sophomore Janai Price and a match-ending attack error by the Blue Jays gave Dean the improbable victory. 

GAME 3: Norwich vs. Dean

Senior Ana Lopez scored 11 kills, propelling Norwich to a 3-0 win over Dean to cap a sweep of Friday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match at Andrews Hall. 

Lopez, who set new career highs in kills and hitting percentage in Norwich's 3-0 win over Saint Joseph's earlier in the game, racked up 11 kills on 24 swings to close the contest with a .292 clip. Graduate student Addison Schroeder (Apple Valley, Calif.) and sophomore Abby Kanaga scored eight kills apiece as senior Maggie McNeil picked up five kills alongside 19 digs. Senior libero Laura Farnum led the team with 24 digs while her sister, senior Sarah Farnum secured a team-high 33 assists. 

Norwich built an 8-2 lead early in the first set, and shook off a four-point swing by Dean with five unanswered points to take a 13-6 advantage. The Bulldogs attempted to harness the momentum from their 3-2, comeback win over St. Joseph (Conn.) from earlier in the day, with an 8-1 run, but a ball handling error awarded Norwich with the first set point.  

The Cadets jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the second and held Dean at bay throughout the set before taking a two-set lead with an 8-3 run to end the set. Norwich unloaded 17 unanswered points to start the third to take a massive lead, and an ace by junior Sam Lebruska (Lynnfield, Mass.) ended the contest and provided Norwich with its second GNAC win of the season and third straight sweep of the week. 

Norwich will return to conference action on Saturday, Oct. 8, when the Cadets will travel to Nashua, N.H. to take on Rivier at 11 a.m. before squaring off against Albertus Magnus at 1 p.m.