Box Score Volleyball can come down to a game of runs. The John Carroll University volleyball team strung together a pair of monster runs in the first and second set on Saturday afternoon inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.
 
With the Blue Streaks' (14-2) 25-6, 25-11, 25-14 sweep over Wilmington, JCU won its OAC opener for the first time since 2010.
 
"We worked on service pressure all week, trying to exploit the front row passers," said third-year head coach Laura Rodeffer. We wanted to give Wilmington something else to think about. I think that was a big part of why we were successful."
 
In the first set John Carroll recorded a red-hot hitting percentage of .500 compared to Wilmington's -.167.  Junior Sarah Orlandi helped the team average on JCU's 14-0 run with two kills and two blocks.  Along with Orlandi, freshman Mena Afsarifard played a key role in the run. She served up three aces during the run.
 
Continuing the momentum into the second set, the Blue Streaks were able to have another run against the Fightin' Quakers rattling off 12 straight points.  During the run Orlandi was the star serving five aces total including three straight. The Brecksville-Broadview Hts. High School product added two kills during the run, allowing John Carroll to win the set 25-11.
 
John Carroll had a 4-0 run while the score was 14-8 in the third set opening a 10-point lead for the team.  The run was capped with back-to-back aces from junior Sara Kaminski.  Afsarifard finished the match with the Blue Streak's 14th ace of the day.
 
Kaminski recorded 15 digs for the match. Leah Svoboda led the offense with eight kills while Orlandi had seven.
 
John Carroll competes next against Ohio Northern University in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1 p.m.