Skyhawks push home record to 10-0 overall on the season
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| Freshman middle blocker Meaghan Lee led all players with 18 kills for a .593 hitting percentage. |
EASTON, Mass. (November 1, 2011) – The Stonehill College women's volleyball team kept its perfect home record intact on Tuesday night at Merkert Gymnasium with a 3-1 victory over UMass Lowell in Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) action by scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-17 and 25-18. The Skyhawks have only lost five sets at home this season.
Stonehill (25-5, 13-1 NE-10) has at least two matches remaining on the schedule, one regular season match and a NE-10 Quarterfinal round contest, to tie the program record for most wins in a season which was set in 1996 (27-8). UMass Lowell falls to 11-9, 7-6 NE-10.
Freshman middle blocker Meaghan Lee (Hanover, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) compiled a match-high 18 kills and a .593 hitting percentage (18-2-27) and five block assists to guide the Skyhawks offense. Sophomore outside hitter Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutto) notched a double-double, her 15th this season, on 10 kills and 16 digs while right-side hitter Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover) added nine kills and a match-high six block assists.
Freshman setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill./York) facilitated the offense leading all players with 40 assists to go along with six digs and one block assist. Junior libero Erin Kelly (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) tallied match-highs in digs (17) and service aces (5) including four-straight to four-different receivers in the third set.
For UMass Lowell, freshman outside hitter Hannah Rey (San Diego, Calif./Escondido) led the River Hawks attack with 11 kills, one assist, one service ace, 14 digs and one block assist. Senior middle hitter Lea Freeman (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) had 10 kills, one service ace, five digs and three blocks (one solo). Sophomore setter Olivia Parkins (Dracut, Mass./Dracut), who did not start until the second set, had 19 assists in addition to one kill, two service aces and four digs.
Arvidson, Lee and Maxey combined for all 16 kills in set one – the most for either team in the contest – with Lee tying Rey from UMass Lowell for the set-high in kills with six. Ahead 23-18, Lee put down three kills down the stretch including the final two to close out the set.
In set two, the River Hawks shut down a potential Skyhawks rally ahead 20-15 using one service ace, three kills and one Stonehill service error to tie the match at 1-1.
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| Junior libero Erin Kelly compiled a match-high 17 digs for Stonehill. |
In the third set, Kelly broke open a slim, 5-4, lead with four consecutive service aces to give Stonehill some momentum to build off of and an early 9-5 advantage. The Skyhawks did not allow UMass Lowell to tie up the set pushing the gap to as high as eight points at 16-8 before winning the set 25-17.
Stonehill claimed a 25-18 win in set four as Arvidson and Lee teamed up for eight kills – five from Lee – and four block assists. Defensively, the Skyhawks tied their set-high in digs (17) on the night with Kelly leading the way (six digs).
Stonehill hosts Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, November 5 at Merkert Gymnasium on Senior Day at 1 p.m. The Skyhawks will be honoring seniors Laura Huselton (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) who is 14 kills away from 1,000 in her collegiate career, and Colleen Burt (Pensacola, Fla./Pine Forest).
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