A large crowd gathered in Esbjornson Gymnasium to welcome Rowan volleyball (3-2) home for the Matt Blatt Mitsubishi Profs Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 7 in which they swept both Widener (2-3) and Drew (1-5) in three straight sets.

Their home opener also saw the team breaking records in their second match against Drew with senior setter Brooke Adams setting a new program record with 12 aces in a single match, passing the previous record of 10 which was held by six individuals. The last occurrence took place on Oct. 2, 2007, with Casey Roselle.

The Profs Invitational marked the first home action for the Profs, who began their season back in August competing in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

In the 2024 Puerto Rico Clasico, the Profs finished 1-2, defeating Buffalo State (0-1, 0-0 SUNYAC) 3-1 and losing to both North Park (2-1, 0-0 CCIW) and Ohio Wesleyan (2-0, 0-0 NCAC).

Despite the international losses, the team was able to capture both wins at home to improve to 3-2 on the season. 

Head coach Deana Jespersen says that while the Clasico was good exposure for the Profs to get reps against high-level teams they would never normally face, getting victories against regular competitors at home is just as important.

“We played nationally ranked teams as well as just a super competitive team in Ohio Wesleyan and Buffalo State, so coming back to your gym, starting that familiar part of your schedule, being in your house, and getting them into super important for confidence and just team chemistry and understanding,” Jespersen said. “I think that’s going to give [the team] a lot of confidence to know that they’re doing the right things and that our season is going to be headed in the right direction.”

The first match of the day for the Profs kicked off at 10 a.m. against Widener (25-12, 25-18, 25-18). The Profs were able to comfortably keep their lead throughout each set to complete the three-set sweep of the Pride, thanks in part to Widener’s inability to respond to the Profs’ powerful offense.

Middle Hitter Ciara Bradley, rookie outside hitter Hutton Cordrey, and opposite Isabel Kirchner each recorded nine kills with outside hitter Jena Kaul delivering eight and middle hitter Ava Best contributing six of her own with 37 assists, six digs, three aces, and a pair of kills. 

The team overall put up a 46-16-103 hitting line (.262) in their victory sweep, including 18 kills in the third and match-clinching set.

Kirchner was named the Matt Blatt Mitsubishi Player of the Game as nine kills came on just 20 attempts with no errors. 

“She was phenomenal and defensively she was also very good,” Jespersen said. “You can just tell that [Kirchner and her teammates] are loving this team so much and enjoying every moment which is awesome.”

Kirchner applauds her teammates for their contributions to the Profs’ first home victory of the season.

“It’s always exciting to be able to contribute to the team’s success, but I think the energy from all my teammates also helped because if it wasn’t for everyone else being loud and doing their job, I would not have been able to do my job,” Kirchner said.

In the Profs’ final match of the day, the team pulled off come-from-behind wins in their first (25-18) and third (25-16) sets, which was something that they didn’t have to do against Widener as they never trailed in any set.

The second set proved to be a completely different story, with the Profs jumping out to a commanding 10-0 lead and wrapping up the second set with a dominating 25-9 victory.

To go along with Adams’, who also earned Matt Mitsubishi Player of the Game, record-breaking performance against the Rangers, including 29 assists to give her a double-double, the team hit .387 (40-9-80). Cordrey also finished with a match-high 15 kills to go with three aces and one block.

“Brooke serving was insane on that set,” Cordrey said. “She did so good and that really carried our momentum to the next set and we really wanted to finish it.”

Jespersen says that the team’s ability to stay in the game when Drew was out playing them and execute a come-from-behind victory will be a key factor that helps the team succeed later on when New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) season arrives.

“Our word this year is grit. Gratitude, resilience, integrity, team, that’s what it stands for,” Jespersen said. “I think at the beginning they [Drew] were earning their points, earning on their serve, and going after us a little differently. They challenged us a little bit differently, but once we kind of settled and realized that when that ball is on our side of the net we get to do what with it, they kind of settled and played a little bit differently. I’m actually really thrilled at their resilience because that’s gonna be huge for us in a lot of our NJAC matches.”

The Profs’ next match has them traveling to Aston, Pennsylvania, to take on Cedar Crest in the Neumann Invitational on Friday, Sept. 13.

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