RICHMOND, Ind. - The Spartans beat the Quakers of Earlham College in straight sets to open Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play on Friday, September 29. 

The Black and Gold took Friday's match by set scores of 25-9, 25-22 and 25-23, sweeping the Quakers for the first time since 2016. 

As a team, Manchester hit .202 with 35 kills. Earlham hit just .009 during Friday's contest. 

Manchester senior outside hitter Joy Maze (Greenwood, Ind., Greenwood Community) led the Spartans with 11 kills. Avery Ball (Decatur, Ind., Belmont) and Jessica Tarr (Fort Wayne, Ind., Snider) added eight and six kills apiece. Emma Tone (Fort Wayne, Ind., Bishop Dwenger) collected 14 assists on the night, while Alexa Kouskousakis (Rochester, Ind., Rochester Community) had 11 assists. 

Defensively, Tiffany Watterson (Elkhart, Ind., Elkhart) had a team high 16 digs for the Black and Gold. Carley Camp (Logansport, Ind., Logansport) had three solo blocks while Lily Lichtenbarger (South Bend, Ind., New Prairie) added two solo blocks.

Manchester improved to 10-6, 1-0 HCAC with Friday night's win. Earlham fell to 5-12, 0-1 with the loss. 

Up next, the Spartans will host Saint Mary's College on Wednesday, October 4 in Stauffer-Wolfe Arena at 7:00 p.m.