Box Score Welcome to Hutton Arena, Morgen Coleman (8). You too, Cass Bittle.

Two of the Piper volleyball newcomers made a great first impression on a big crowd as Hamline defeated Crown, 3-0, in their home opener Tuesday night. 

Coleman, a freshman from North Branch, Minn. dished out 27 assists and tied for the team lead with six digs as the Pipers improved to 3-0 on the season. In just three matches, Coleman has a team high 99 assists and leads the MIAC with an average of 9.90 per set. 

Bittle, a transfer from St. Mary's, greeted the home town fans with a team high 11 kills and a .429 hitting percentage to help Hamline take charge early and keep the Storm at bay all night. 

HU never trailed in the first two sets en route to 25-13 and 25-18 victories. The visitors grabbed a couple of quick leads and there were four ties in the third set before the Pipers broke free for a 11-1 run that put things out of reach. The final was 25-10 and Crown had just one kill in the set. Julia Zolnosky had three of her nine kills in the breakaway string for HU. The senior joined Coleman and Amelia Jensen for the team lead in digs for the night with six. A strong defense forced the Storm into several errors, causing the visitors to finish the night with a -.070 attack percentage. 

It's the start of a busy week for the Pipers. They play at Wisconsin-River Falls Wednesday (7:00 p.m.) This weekend, they will play four matches in a little over 24 hours in a tournament at St. Catherine.