Lee, Phillips combine for 20 kills; Stonehill hits .347 on the night

Meaghan Lee (blocking the ball) had a match-high ten kills and added two block assists. (PHOTO BERT LANE)

EASTON, Mass. (September 11, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's volleyball team opened up its Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) slate with a 3-0 victory over Assumption College by scores of 25-13, 25-23 and 25-20 on Tuesday night in Merkert Gymnasium on "Orange Night."

The Skyhawks hosted "Orange Night" to promote Leukemia & Lymphoma Awareness in memory of Henry Thevenin, '14. The event supported the Stonehill College football team in its efforts to honor Henry Thevenin "H-LUV" while raising awareness of leukemia and lymphoma. In all, the women's volleyball team helped raise $250 dollars to honor Thevenin which will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Sophomore middle blocker Meaghan Lee (Hanover, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) and freshman outside hitter Delia Phillips (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) tied for the match-high in kills with ten apiece. Lee compiled a .400 hitting percentage (10-for-20) while Phillips went 10-for-11 (.909) in kills as the Skyhawks combined for a .347 hitting percentage (44/10/98) on the night.

Sophomore setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill./York) facilitated the offense with 37 assists and also added seven digs. Senior libero Erin Kelly (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) turned in a match-high 16 digs and sophomore middle blocker Mary-Kate Catton (San Diego, Calif./Academy of Our Lady of Peace) chipped in with nine kills (.471 hitting percentage).

For Assumption, sophomore Lauren Ostafin (Avon, Conn./Avon), junior middle blocker Ryan Merle (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) and sophomore Ann Donahue (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) tied for the team-high in kills with six. Junior setter Kristin Flatekval (Mahwah, N.J./Immaculate Heart) dished out 23 assists, had four digs and two kills.

Stonehill raced out to a 10-3 lead in set one as junior right-side hitter Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover) and Catton combined for four kills (two each) to open up the seven-point gap. Lee and Phillips helped close out the set with six kills (three each) including the final putaway of the match from Lee.

Assumption held a 14-11 advantage in set two before the Skyhawks rallied to make it 20-19 spearheaded by three kills from junior outside hitter Rachel Sperando (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park), who ended up leading the squad in kills with four in the set. After both teams exchanged points to push the score to 23-23, Arvidson put home her third and final kill of the set on an assist by Kelly to force match point and eventually won the set on a Greyhounds attacking error.

Phillips and Lee powered Stonehill in set three as the freshman-sophomore tandem combined for 13 kills – seven by Phillips – to wrap up the sweep of the Greyhounds. Ahead by a score of 7-5, Lee and Phillips notched 12-straight points for the Skyhawks, not including any Assumption errors (four) during that span, to guide Stonehill to a 23-17 lead before closing out the set, 25-20.

Stonehill (3-3, 1-0 NE-10) returns to action on Friday, September 14 against Georgian Court in day one of the Bentley Invitational, hosted by Bentley University, at 5:30 p.m. Assumption (5-6, 0-1 NE-10) travels to Franklin Pierce University on Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m.