Bears rally from 2-0 deficit to claim road win

Junior right-side hitter Kirsten Arvidson tied the match-high in kills with 23 and also had a .512 hitting percentage.

EASTON, Mass. (October 5, 2012) – The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) edged the Stonehill College women's volleyball team, 3-2, by scores of 23-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-18 and 20-18 in non-conference action on Friday night in Merkert Gymnasium on Dig Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Night.

Junior right-side hitter Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover) tied for the match-high in kills with 23 total posting a .512 hitting percentage to lead the Skyhawks offense. Freshman outside hitter Delia Phillips (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) tallied 13 kills while junior outside hitter Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutto) had 12 putaways and 15 digs and sophomore middle blocker Meaghan Lee (Hanover, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) turned in ten kills.

Sophomore setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill./York) engineered the attack with 55 assists, two kills, 14 digs and two block assists. Senior captain and libero Erin Kelly (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) chipped in defensively with a team-high 16 digs while junior defensive specialist Jessica Frankowski (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) compiled 13 digs.

For NYIT, the trio of Shelby Cable (DeSoto, Mo./DeSoto), Savannah Donarski (Powell, Wyo./Casper College) and Katarina Sretenovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Mineral Area College) combined for 54 of the Bears 71 kills. Cable tied for the match-high in the category with 23, Donarski hammered home 19 kills and Sretenovic rounded out the trio's total with 12 putaways. Cable also recorded a double-double tallying 12 digs in addition to two blocks and one assist.

Junior setter Marija Jovanoic (Belgrade, Serbia/Mineral Area College) narrowly missed a double-double as she dished out a match-high 58 assists, notched nine digs, three kills and two service aces.

Senior libero Tugce Sirdas (Istanbul, Turkey/Vuzyil Isil) collected a match-high 23 digs, had three assists and one service ace.

Stonehill raced out to an early 2-0 lead in the match with Lee and Arvidson leading the way as the duo combined for 18 kills in two sets. The Skyhawks attack also registered a .394 hitting percentage (33 kills, seven errors) during the first two games. On the defensive side, Stonehill only surrendered 22 kills holding the Bears to a .175 hitting percentage during that span.

NYIT regrouped on offense in sets three and four with 17 kills and a .348 hitting percentage in set three and a set-high .469 hitting percentage on 18 kills and three errors in set four to even the score at 2-2.

The Bears withstood two separate rallies in set five after Stonehill bounced back from a 10-2 deficit and a 14-10 disadvantage. Set five saw two lead changes and five ties with every tie coming at set point.

After forcing the score to 14-14, the Skyhawks squandered four-consecutive set point situations before NYIT broke open an 18-18 stalemate on a Stonehill attack error and a kill by Donarski that ended the match, her third putaway of the set.

Stonehill (8-7, 3-2 NE-10) travels to Franklin Pierce University for an NE-10 clash at 1 p.m. NYIT (10-4, 4-1 ECC) also visits Rindge, New Hampshire tomorrow to take on the Ravens at 3 p.m.