ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College volleyball team started the 2026 season with a sweep of North Central University, 25-14, 25-9, 25-21 in a non-conference match in front of a boisterous crowd Tuesday night in the Leonard Center. The win marks the 200th career victory for head coach
Mary Johnston, who has 55 wins in five-plus seasons at Macalester.
The Scots started slowly but picked up the pace in the first set, turning a 6-3 deficit into a 14-9 advantage. North Central came as close as 15-12 before a pair of kills by first year middle blocker
Kyle Speta (San Francisco, Calif./The Urban School of San Francisco) and single kills from junior outside hitter
Adonia Anene (North Hollywood, Calif./The Buckley School) and first year outside hitter
Channing Smith (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) helped the Scots close with a 10-2 run for a 25-14 win. Smith notched four kills in the set.
The second set was all Macalester, which hit .409 with 12 kills while holding the Rams to three kills and a -.136 hitting percentage in a 25-9 victory. Anene delivered seven kills without an error in 11 attempts for a .636 hitting percentage in the set.
North Central battled back in the third set, using four straight points to lead 17-16 and force the Scots to call their first timeout of the match. The score was tied at 20-20 when Smith notched two kills around a pair of Rams' attack errors to create match point, 24-20. After a kill by NCU's Gabbie Ruzek, another attack error by North Central gave Macalester a 25-21 win and the match. Anene and Smith each had three kills in the final set.
Anene led all players with 13 kills, while Smith registered eight kills in her first collegiate match. Senior setter
Hannah Morrow (Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook) and junior setter
Camilia Jones (Orlando, Fla.) each recorded 13 assists, while Morrow tied first year defensive specialist
Morgan Stone for the team lead with eight digs.
Now in her sixth season at Macalester, Johnston posted back-to-back winning seasons in her first two years in St. Paul despite taking over a team that was 31-80 the previous five seasons. Before Macalester, Johnston won 129 matches at Franklin College and 16 in one season at SUNY Canton.
Macalester will play in the Ripon (Wis.) Tournament this weekend, staring with a match against Marian University on Friday at 5:00 p.m. The Scots will play Lakeland University and the host Red Hawks on Saturday.
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