Men’s soccer

cangelosi breaks digs record
in important volleyball win

The fans came armed with balloons and signs, ready to cheer. And cheer they did, yelling for Ursinus to spike the ball.

Nothing strange about that, except that these were Muhlenberg volleyball fans. They wanted the Bears to spike the ball so that

Cangelosi’s 483 digs this season are the third-most in team history.

senior Christina Cangelosi could dig it out on the opposite side of the net.

Eventually, they got their wish. Cangelosi finished with 16 digs to break the school record for digs in a career and help the Mules to an important 3-0 sweep.

The victory kept Muhlenberg alive for a Centennial Conference playoff berth with one match left in the regular season. The Mules (10-12, 5-4) are tied with McDaniel, a 3-1 loser to Johns Hopkins, for the fifth and final playoff spot. Muhlenberg hosts third-place Gettysburg on Friday night, while McDaniel tangles with first-place Haverford at home on Saturday.

Cangelosi entered the match needing seven digs to break the record. For her, that’s

Lee is only the fifth Mule to record 700 kills and 900 digs in her career.

usually about one set’s worth; she came in leading the CC with an average of 6.06 digs per set. But the Bears (8-16, 2-7) struggled to set up their attack in the first set, as Muhlenberg breezed to a 25-12 win. When Ursinus did manage to get off a good hit, the ball always seemed to go in a direction other than Cangelosi’s. She had just one dig in the first set, prompting her impatient cheering section to exhort the visiting team to put more attacks in play.

“I was thinking in my head that maybe I should let a few go by so she could get them,” joked senior Phylicia Lee, who had a team-high four digs in the first set and 11 in the match. “Finally in the second set she got it going and got to every ball like the Christina Cangelosi we know.”

Cangelosi broke the record, previously held by Jen Weist (2002-05) late in the second set, a 25-21 win, and ended the match with 1,394 career digs.

“She means everything to us,” said Lee, the Mules’ leading hitter. “I look to her as the leader in the back row. We know she’s going to hustle to every ball. She really starts our offense, and I’m thankful for all the great passes she’s given me.”

Great passing all around enabled Muhlenberg to hit .227, it second-highest percentage of the season, against the Bears. Lee and sophomore Jackie Price led the attack with 10 and eight kills, respectively, and freshman Jennifer Seeba knocked down six kills in only 11 attempts.

“We really worked on being efficient – pass, set, put it away. And our blocking was tremendous. That really helped,” commented Lee.

Muhlenberg overcame an early deficit to finish off the sweep by a 25-20 count in the third set. The win gave the Mule volleyball program double digits in victories for the 19th straight year.
Click here for box score.