CHESTER, Pa. – Coming off a tri-match loss last Saturday, the Pride bounced back and swept the Union College Owls and Brooklyn College Bulldogs in three sets each. 

Widener is now 4-2 in the regular season and remains 0-0 in conference play. Their first MAC matches will be on February 9. 

HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST UNION 

The Pride had 69 total attacks on the match, with 33 of them being kills. Dylan Beer and Matthew Christ led the Pride in kills; Beer had nine, while Christ added eight of his own. Christ had a team-high five service aces as well; the rest of his teammates combined had eight. The Pride had a .261 hitting percentage against Union. 

Widener opened the day with a 5-1 run due to some Union errors. The Pride was able to get up to 9-3 on three consecutive attack errors from the Owls. With the Pride leading 12-7, the visitors scored five straight points to tie the game. However, the Pride regained the lead on more Union errors and a kill by Christ. While Union would score four straight points later in the set, the Pride ended the set on a service ace by Nick Poulson. Widener took the set 25-20. 

The second set was pure domination by Widener, which was evident from their 8-0 start. Christ served three aces in that stretch. With the score 11-5 in favor of the Pride, Widener scored five more points on kills from Josh Matchett and Ethan Cox and an ace from Matchett. In total, the Pride ended the set on a 14-4 outburst. The Pride won the set 25-9 and were leading the match two sets to none. 

The Pride began their final set against Union with a Cox service ace. The Owls went up 2-1, but the Pride answered with six straight points. The score was 7-2 Widener, with the seventh Widener point stemming from a bad set by Union. Another big  6-1 run propelled the Pride to a 13-4 lead. Kills by Beer and Matchett were the highlights of that run. Widener then matched a 3-0 run by Union with a 3-0 run of their own; this same scenario happened back-to-back, with the score at 19-10 Widener. Needing only two more points for the win, Christ served consecutive aces. The Pride got the victory in the third set 25-12. Widener was able to sweep the Union three sets to zero. 

HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST BROOKLYN 

Similar to the Union match, the Pride earned 33 kills. This time, it was on 68 attacks. Beer was the hot hand in serving, recording six of Widener's 10 aces. Matchett logged 26 assists for the Pride. 

A Brooklyn service error gave the Pride their first point of the set. The Bulldogs were able to match Widener's offense through the first few rallies, but the Pride blew it open not too long after. A 12-0 run gave Widener a 14-2 advantage. Kills by Cox and a Matchett ace made the score 17-4. An attack error from Brooklyn ended the set, giving the victory to the Pride. The final score was 25-8. 

The second set began with errors by both teams: an attack error from Brooklyn, and a service error from Widener. A 5-0 run a few moments later turned the score into 9-4 Widener. Down 11-5, the Bulldogs climbed back into the game with three consecutive points, but another attack error halted their advancing. Up 13-10, the Pride utilized a 6-0 run to avoid a Bulldogs' outburst. Kills by Michael Martino and Matchett countered a kill by Brooklyn, making the score 22-12. Beer took matters into his own hands to finish the set, recording a kill and a service ace back-to-back. The Pride walked away with a 25-14 win. The visitors were now down two sets to none. 

Christ started the set with a kill and an ace. The two sides exchanged attack and service errors before getting a kill from Benjamin Heist. Although the Bulldogs kept the score tight through the first portion of the set, Widener scored three straight points off a Martino kill and errors from Brooklyn. A 6-0 run opened the door for Widener to get back on top. Up 19-13, the Pride answered with a kill by Martino and a Brooklyn attack error. An Anthony Balboni kill ended the set for the Pride, 25-18. Widener won both the Union and Brooklyn matches three sets to zero. 

UP NEXT 

The Pride go on the road for the first time this season to take on Immaculata on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.