The Skyhawk volleyball team opened its home schedule in style on Wednesday by recording a one-sided 3-0 victory over Sewanee at the Skyhawk Fieldhouse.

The win improved the team’s overall record to 5-3 heading into a weekend tournament in Indianapolis.

Sewanee faced a huge challenge from the start of the match as the Skyhawks had a significant size advantage, especially around the net.

Shelby Knose opened the match with three consecutive service aces for the home team. Throughout the match, the Skyhawks displayed an impressive service game. As a team, they recorded 17 service aces to the visitors’ zero. This allowed them to dictate the flow of the match.

Junior Jamie Hollins helped the Skyhawks rally from an early 3-0 deficit in the second game with an ace during a 6-0 run that brought the momentum back to the home team.

From that point, the Skyhawk lead exploded as the stellar service continued. Breanne Carey served a pair of aces to build the advantage to 21-7. Freshman outside hitter Lauren Montague and junior libero Anna Gautreau also had aces in the game.

“I think it’s exciting to have started our season off the way we have this year. It’s like the girls have rebounded. They learned a lot last year and they are applying it this year,” said Skyhawk head coach Amy Draper.

The Skyhawks recorded a .527 attack percentage for the match while forcing Sewanee into a percentage of -.064. Sophomore Sarah Jett led the way for the Skyhawks by hitting a stellar .909 with 10 kills in 11 attempts. Junior Shelby Knose was a perfect 1-for-1 in the match. Junior Kathryn Sprague and freshman Taylor Noland joined Jett in recording double-figure kills with 13 and 11, respectively.

“The girls have just built a lot of chemistry from playing together and the experience of last year is showing,” Draper said.

Defensively, Gautreau led a balanced effort with six digs. Senior Tammy Konitzer and Breanne Carey each had four and Dimphy Sasse contributed three. The Skyhawks’ size around the net proved to be beneficial in denying the Sewanee attack chances to put points on the board.

Coach Draper expressed satisfaction with her first-year players, several of whom have gotten their careers off to good starts in the early stages of the season.

“The new players have brought in a higher skill level and they are pushing the other girls to achieve a higher skill level,” she said.

“Anytime you can bring in new players who are just as good as the ones you already have then you are moving in the right direction.” Sewanee threatened only once, taking a 3-0 lead in the second game of the match.

The Skyhawks have won four straight matches following a weekend tournament in Indianapolis.

The team will return to defend their home floor tonight when they take on Trevecca at 7 p.m. in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.