KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Raven Volleyball team started off their 2018 season on the road on Wednesday night with a sweep over former Heart opponent Avila University.

Benedictine (1-0) earned wins of 25-23, 25-21, and 25-23 over Avila (0-3) with a rally in game three to earn the sweep.

The Ravens capped off the sweep with their best hitting effort of the match. They finished game three with 19 kills at a hitting percentage of 37.8 percent.

The offense had a balanced attack effort that led to 41 kills as a team. Makenna Ketter and Sydney Wiedenmann led the effort with nine kills each. Sara Rahmanzai and Fleur Wesselink added eight kills while Kate Hanson capped off the offensive effort with six.

Emily Dalton and Paxton Throne anchored the offensive effort. Dalton finished with 16 assists while Throne added 11.

Defensively, the Ravens finished with 39 digs led by Abby Brown with 12. Hannah Thomazin added eight to round out the back row effort. Aretha Victalino led the front row defensive effort with four solo blocks while Ketter added two. Rahmanzai added two block assists to wrap up the defensive effort for the Ravens.

Up next for Benedictine, the Ravens return home for a 6 p.m. match on Friday night as they host William Woods University inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium.