William Smith volleyball rebounded from a loss to No. 21 Batten with a four-set victory over Haverford on Saturday, finishing its trip to Pennsylvania with a split and an 18-6 record.
Senior Maren Hunt put down a career-high 14 kills and first-year setter Jayden Hanson paired 40 assists with a career-high 17 digs in the win over Haverford, according to the [Herons’ match recap](https://hwsathletics.com/news/2026/11/7/william-smith-volleyball-herons-split-action-at-haverford-tri-match.aspx). William Smith won 25-23, 25-21, 28-30, 25-20 after opening the day with an 18-25, 16-25, 18-25 loss to Batten at Haverford’s Gooding ’84 Arena.
## Hunt and Hanson reach career highs against Haverford
Cassidy Breuer led the Herons’ attack against the Fords with 17 kills and added 16 digs for a double-double. Hunt hit .480, committing just two errors in 25 attempts, and contributed three blocks. Arielle Newsome and Emily Fulton each added nine kills.
William Smith built a 24-20 lead in the opening set before Haverford scored three straight points. A Fords service error ended the set, giving the Herons a 1-0 advantage. In the second, William Smith overcame an early 6-1 deficit and finished the set on a Hunt kill to move within one set of the match.
The third set took considerably longer to settle. Trailing 23-16, the Herons scored eight consecutive points to take a 24-23 lead. Haverford survived that rally and the extended finish, winning 30-28 on a block to keep the match going.
The Fords started the fourth set with a 5-1 lead, but William Smith answered with a 5-1 run of its own to tie it at 6. The Herons later erased a 13-9 deficit and went ahead 17-14. They hit .233 in the set, their best mark of the match, and Senya Dorny delivered the final kill in the 25-20 victory.
Hanson’s double-double helped direct an offense that finished with 54 kills. Kali Vanderhoof led the defense with 27 digs, while Fulton added 11 alongside Breuer’s 16 and Hanson’s 17. Madilyn Kresl contributed six digs and two assists.
Dorny led William Smith with six blocks, followed by Newsome with five. The Herons finished with eight team blocks and nine service aces. Breuer, Newsome and Dorny served two aces apiece; Vanderhoof, Hanson and Taylor Williams each had one.
Haverford finished with 53 kills and a .195 hitting percentage, compared with William Smith’s .167. The loss left the Fords at 16-7.
## No. 21 Batten wins the opener in three sets
Batten held William Smith to a .093 hitting percentage in the opening match and improved to 24-4 with the sweep. The Marlins finished with 42 kills and hit .261, while the Herons had 31 kills and 20 attack errors.
William Smith’s most productive offensive set was the first, when it recorded 15 kills and hit .229. Batten answered with 16 kills and only one attack error, hitting .357 to take the opener 25-18. The Marlins then limited the Herons to six kills in the second set and closed the match with another 25-18 win in the third.
Fulton led William Smith with nine kills against Batten. Breuer and Newsome had seven apiece, with Newsome hitting .429. Hunt added four kills. Hanson supplied 21 assists and seven digs, and Delainy Williams contributed six assists and nine digs.
Vanderhoof collected 19 digs in the opener, giving her 46 across the two matches. Newsome recorded three blocks against Batten, and Breuer had two blocks and the Herons’ lone service ace. Across the day, Breuer totaled 24 kills and 21 digs, while Hanson finished with 61 assists and 24 digs.
“I’m really proud of the way our team found a way to win!” head coach Derryk Williams said in the school’s recap. He said the Herons would learn from the difficult day of competition while celebrating the victory.
William Smith next heads to the Liberty League tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Herons will play a semifinal Friday, Nov. 13, at Ithaca against the winner of the first-round match between No. 3 Vassar and No. 6 Skidmore.
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