The women’s volleyball team opened its 2012 season at the Bomber Invitational with a winning start Friday against Cazenovia College and University of Rutgers-Newark.

The Bombers swept the Cazenovia Wildcats 25-15, 25-10 and 27-25, and rallied from trouble in the first set to defeat the Rutgers-Newark Raiders in four sets,  21-25, 25-10, 25-21 and 25-15.

Junior outside hitter Justine Duryea had a career-high nine aces against Cazenovia, while senior outside hitter and team co-captain Marissa Weil had 11 kills and three blocks.

Bombers’ Head Coach Janet Donovan acknowledged afterwards that the second match of the day against Rutgers-Newark proved more problematic. After a strong start to the first set, the Bombers fell behind and dropped the opening frame. They quickly recovered, however, racing out to a 6-0 lead in the second set and going on to win it 25-10. Weil finished the match with seven kills, and sophomore middle blocker Brittany Pietrzykowski led the team with three blocks.

“I thought we played better in the first match overall,” Donovan said. “In the second match, I thought we were a little flat. I did like how in the second match we came back and we shook off that first set loss and we won the next three.”