MANCHESTER, N.H (September 16, 2022)- Jumping back into match competition for the first time in six days, Stonehill College volleyball faced Saint Anselm on Friday afternoon. After taking the first set in a competitive battle, the Skyhawks ultimately fell short in four frames (28-26 13-25, 20-25, 19-25).
The Details
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Molly Tuner led the team with 21 assists Friday afternoon (Photo Credit: Andrew Katsames). |
Jentry Allen and Mia Berardino led the Skyhawks offense with nine kills on Friday. For Berardino, her nine kills tied a career-high for the freshman outside hitter. It is her fourth time this year posting five or more kills. Meanwhile, for Allen, it is her sixth time with five or more kills on the year. Molly Turner and Delaney Mihelich paced the offense with 21 and 16 assists respectively. It is Turner's second match this year with 20 or more assists and her 11th time in her career with 20 or more assists. Mihelich's 16 assists are a new career high for the setter as she has now posted 10 or more assists five times this season.
On the defensive end, Allen led the squad with 10 digs, and right behind her was Kristen DeLorenzo with nine. It is Allen's second time on the year with 10 or more digs. Stonehill also saw four different Skyhawks record at least one individual block (Berardino, Kaitlyn Watson, Amanda Maier, and Lindsey Peirson).
The first set was back-and-forth action as there were eight ties and eight lead changes with neither side leading by no more than four points. Early in the opening frame, the Skyhawks raced out to an early four-point advantage (8-4) highlighted by two kills from Allen and a Skylar Hanley service ace. Hanley finished the match overall with three aces which tied a career-best for the junior outside hitter. From that point, the Hawks grabbed the momentum back with an 8-4 run of their own and tied things at 12. Saint Anselm and Stonehill continued to push each other before the Hawks grabbed their largest lead (18-15).
After going up 20-17, the purple and white rallied to tie the set at 20 after a kill by Watson. Between Saint Anselm errors and another Watson kill, Stonehill pushed their lead to two (23-21) However, both sides battled, and later in the set, the Hawks went up by one (26-25). The Skyhawks capitalized after another Hawks service error and knotted things at 26. From there, a Berardino kill and Emma Graves service ace secured Stonehill's opening set win.
Set two Saint Anselm got off to a quick 7-3 lead and never looked back from there as they never let Stonehill get closer than four when they got the score to 12-8 after a Graves kill. From there, the Hawks went on a 13-5 run to secure the second set. In the second frame, Lauren McCloskey, Graves, and Watson led the squad with two kills each while also seeing kills from Berardino, Kristen Joyce, and Allen.
Both sides started the third set going back and forth before the Hawks grabbed an early 6-4 advantage but the Skyhawks ended up retaking the lead (7-6) courtesy of two Saint Anselm errors and a Maier kill. Despite the early lead, the Hawks pushed to their largest lead of the set (21-12) after a 15-5 run. Despite the large lead, Stonehill fought back with a 7-2 rally and cut the deficit to four (23-19) spearheaded by two kills from Watson and a kill from Maier. However, Saint Anselm wrapped up the set with two quick points.
In the final set, Stonehill grabbed an early 4-3 lead after a kill from Graves. Like most of the night, both sides went back and forth and despite a two-point lead for the Hawks (9-7), the Skyhawks pushed back and took a one-point lead again (11-10) after a 4-1 run courtesy of two kills from Allen and a kill by McCloskey. Despite the lead, Saint Anselm went on a 7-2 run for their largest lead of the frame (18-12). Stonehill trimmed the deficit to three (18-15) after an Allen service ace. However, the Hawks wrapped up the match with a 7-4 stretch.
Up Next
Stonehill makes their home debut tomorrow hosting Saint Michael's College for a 1 p.m. start.
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