NEW BRITAIN, CONN. (October 14, 2022)- The Stonehill College women's volleyball continued their three-game road trip with a Northeast Conference matchup against Central Connecticut State University but fell, 3-0 (17-25, 21-25, 12-25) Friday afternoon at Detrick Gymnasium.

Kaitlyn Watson led the offense with seven kills on the afternoon. It is her 10th time this year posting five or more kills and she has done so in her last three matches. After sitting out the last seven matches due to injury, Emma Graves made her return and had five kills while also assisting on a block. Delaney Mihelich guided the offense with 14 assists and she has now dished out 10 or more assists in her previous 11 matches. Not far behind was Molly Turner who notched 12 assists and it marked the 12th time this year she eclipsed the 10-assist mark. Defensively, Kristen DeLorenzo finished with seven digs on the afternoon. 

Stonehill quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set thanks to a Blue Devils error and Mihelich kill. Central Connecticut pushed back and evened the match at four and then pulled ahead by three (7-4). The Skyhawks trimmed the deficit to one after back-to-back kills by Watson. Despite the late surge, the Blue Devils pulled ahead by five (11-6) thanks to a 4-0 run but the Skyhawks cut the lead to two (11-9) after kills from Watson and Turner along with a Jentry Allen service ace. However, Central Connecticut would put the opening set out of reach when they grabbed their largest lead (20-12) behind a 9-3 run and won the first set, 25-17. 

After Stonehill pulled within one (2-1) thanks to a Blue Devils attack error, Central Connecticut jumped out to an early 11-3 lead behind a 9-2 run which led to a Skyhawk timeout. Out of the timeout, Stonehill pulled within three (16-13) thanks to a 10-5 rally spearheaded by three Graves kills and two from Mia Berardino. The Blue Devils pushed their lead back to five (23-18) but again, the Purple and White rallied and trimmed the lead to two (23-21) after a DeLorezo service ace which led to a Central Connecticut timeout. However, the Blue Devils held off Stonehill's momentum and took the second set, 25-21. 

In the final set, the opening moments went back and forth and after Central Connecticut went ahead, 5-3, Stonehill pulled within one after another Watson kill. The Blue Devils would grab the next point but the Skyhawks responded with a Berardino kill and made it a 6-5 set. Central Connecticut would go on a 6-0 run (12-5) before the Skyhawks called a timeout to halt the momentum. Despite the timeout, the Blue Devils continued their strong offensive play to go ahead by eight (18-10) and the Skyhawks had to use their final timeout. From there, Central Connecticut finished the match on a 7-2 burst to grab the sweep. In the final set, three different Skyhawks posted two kills (Berardino, Amanda Maier, and Watson) while Mihelich and Turner each dished out three assists.

Up Next

Stonehill concludes their three-game road trip with an NEC matchup at Sacred Heart University tomorrow at 7 p.m.

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