YORK, Neb. — York University defeated Faith Baptist 3-1 on Tuesday at Freeman Center, winning 16-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-19.
York took an early lead with
Madilyn De La Garza's kill from
Meadow Nusbaum and a
Jassania Joseph ace for a 2-1 lead, but Faith Baptist tied it and moved in front 4-2 on consecutive York attack errors. York stayed within striking distance on kills by
Ronan Merriex, De La Garza,
Florencia Felmer and Joseph, before Faith Baptist later led 14-8.
Maria Del Mar Rivera's kill, a
Kory Anschutz ace and another De La Garza kill brought York back to 14-11, but Faith Baptist answered with five straight points to go ahead 19-11. After Faith Baptist reached 24-13, Joseph added a kill and York scored on blocks by Joseph and
Maria Del Mar Rivera before Faith Baptist closed the set 25-16.
After Faith Baptist moved ahead 4-2, York answered with
Emma Kerley's kill,
Madilyn De La Garza's ace and
Isidora Diaz Aguirre's kill to go in front 5-4. The set was tied 5-5 after a York service error, but a Faith Baptist service error returned the serve, and Nusbaum served York through eight straight points to a 14-5 lead with two aces, kills from
Maria Del Mar Rivera and Felmer, and three Faith Baptist attack errors. York later reached 21-11 on De La Garza's kill and a Faith Baptist attack error, but Faith Baptist scored four straight after York led 22-12 to pull within 22-16. Merriex stopped that stretch with a kill for 23-16, and after the teams traded late points, Felmer closed the set with a kill for a 25-18 York win.
Faith Baptist built a 10-7 lead in the third set. The Panthers stayed within range, and a kill by
Maria Del Mar Rivera plus two Joseph kills moved York in front 16-15. After a service error tied the set at 16-16, Joseph put York back ahead,
Tianna Clark added a service ace and
Madilyn De La Garza's kill made it 19-16. Faith Baptist cut the margin to 20-19, but York answered with a Joseph kill and two Faith Baptist errors before De La Garza set up set point and Merriex closed the 25-22 win with a kill.
In the fourth set the Panthers trailed 1-3 before going on a run to take a 6-3 lead with kills from Merriex and Kerley around another Faith Baptist error. Faith Baptist cut the margin to 9-8, but York answered with a seven-point stretch to reach 16-8, including two Nusbaum service aces and three Felmer kills. York pushed the lead to 21-11 on kills by Joseph before Faith Baptist scored five straight points to close to 21-16. Kerley ended that run with a kill, Merriex later put York at set point, and Felmer finished the set with a kill for a 25-19 York win.
Joseph led York University with 16 kills, hitting .583 for the match. Nusbaum recorded 20 assists, 11 digs and four service aces. Anschutz added 18 assists, seven digs and four service aces.
Ambar Ortiz collected 13 digs and contributed five assists.
Up next, the York University volleyball team travels to Oskaloosa, Iowa, to face Hannibal-LaGrange on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, at 10 a.m.
