Arvidson and Lee power offense in come-from-behind victory

Senior captain and libero Erin Kelly led the defense with a team-high 20 digs.

EASTON, Mass. (October 9, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's volleyball team erased a 2-0 deficit in its five set triumph over Merrimack College by scores of 21-25, 19-25, 29-27, 25-15, 25-15 and 15-12 on Tuesday night in Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) action at Merkert Gymnasium on "Purple Out Night."

Junior right-side hitter Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover) posted a .382 hitting percentage, hammered home a match-high 16 kills, had three block assists and three digs to help the Skyhawks in their come-from-behind efforts.

Sophomore middle blocker Meaghan Lee (Hanover, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) supplied 15 kills and four block assists while freshman outside hitter Delia Phillips (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) contributed eight kills – seven of which came in between the last two sets – six digs, five block assists and three service aces.

Sophomore setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill./York) facilitated the offense with a match-high 55 assists, 13 digs and three kills. Iverson currently leads the team in double-doubles with eight this season counting tonight's performance.

Defensively, the Skyhawks recorded 75 digs highlighted by senior captain and libero Erin Kelly (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) who notched a team-high 20 on the night. Junior outside hitter Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutto) added 14 digs and junior defensive specialist Jessica Frankowski (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) tallied ten.

The Warriors were led by Stephanie Sheehan's (Smithtown, N.Y./St. Anthony's) double-double output of 13 kills and 14 digs to go along with one assist, one service ace and four block assists. Junior outside hitter Jackie Jones (Amherst, N.H./Wheaton College) tallied 11 putaways, four blocks, two assists and one dig.

Freshman libero Madison Burke (San Jose, Calif./Valley Christian) compiled a match-high 22 digs and also added four assists, one service ace and one kill. Senior setter Brianna Trabucco (Canton, Mass./Canton) dished out 41 assists, registered 16 digs, two block assists, two kills and one service ace.

Stonehill dug itself in an early hole combining to hit .096 on 26 kills, 18 errors and 83 total attacks through the first two sets of the match. Set three saw four lead changes and ten ties but the Skyhawks responded late despite trailing three times with set point in hand for Merrimack.

With the score at 25-24 in favor of the Warriors, the Stonehill coaching staff elected to call a timeout and it paid off as Lee powered home a kill on a feed from Iverson to even the score. The two squads exchanged a pair of kills over the course of the next four points to make it 27-27 but an attack error by the Warriors and a kill from Catton sealed set three for Stonehill at 29-27.

Phillips ignited Stonehill in set four with five kills, three service aces, three digs and two block assists. Set four was the only game in the match that saw no lead changes or ties.

In set five, Arvidson and junior outside hitter Rachel Sperando (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) pushed the Skyhawks past a 9-7 deficit with two kills each down the stretch to earn the victory.

Sperando finished the contest with seven kills (.150 hitting percentage), two digs and one block assist in only three sets played.

Stonehill (9-8, 4-3 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday, October 13 in a tri-match, on the road, against LIU-Post and Dowling College at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. Merrimack (7-10, 0-4 NE-10) travels to Southern Connecticut State University on Friday, October 12 at 7 p.m.