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| Michelle Thornhill had 20 kills and 16 digs in the Skyhawks 3-1 win |
Skyhawks Earn Trip To NE-10 Tournament With Four Set Victory
Easton, Mass. - The Skyhawks earned their first playoff berth in four years as they overcame poor hitting in the first set before sweeping the last three with good hitting a great defense, beating Franklin Pierce 3-1 on Saturday in Merkert Gymnasium.
On senior day, Stonehill opened the match hitting shot for shot with the Ravens, drawing even four times in the match's first 10 points. However, Franklin Pierce took a 10-9 lead they wouldn't look back as they took advantage of 11 Skyhawk errors in the set to cruise to a 25-18 first set victory.
The Ravens were poised to blow the second set open as they took a 3-0 lead early and also grabbed leads of 7-1 and 15-8 before coach Eric Snyder called a timeout to help his team regroup.
The Skyhawks responded and chipped away at the Franklin Pierce lead, trailing 18-14 and drawing even at 20 apiece before the Ravens called a timeout, hoping to end the run.
It was to no avail however, as Stonehill scored six of the final five points to win the second set 25-21.
In the third the Skyhawks continued to press the Ravens as they used eight Michelle Thornhill (Canyon Lake, Calif.) kills in the set to fly past the Ravens for the 25-16 victory.
Franklin Pierce regained some momentum in the final set, tying it up at five and then again at 18 apiece. Stonehill wouldn't back down though, as they scored six of the next nine points to take a 24-21 lead before an Emily Schultz service error gave the Skyhawks the 3-1 win.
In victory Stonehill was led by the all around play of Thornhill who tied a career high with 20 kills and also added 16 digs. Katherine Masson (Acushnet, Mass.) had 14 kills for the Skyhawks and Erin Johnson (Mass.) added nine kills with no errors for a .450 attack percentage.
Andrea Wirth (Mesa, Ariz.) continued her excellent play as she had a season high 53 assists to go along with 12 digs, while libero Therese Mance (Milwaukee, Wis.) had 21 digs for Stonehill.
With win the Skyhawks improve to 20-10 on the season and earn their first 20 win season since they went 23-8 in 1997. It also marks the first playoff berth for Stonehill since 2004.
The Skyhawks now await the announcement of their seed and opponent in next weekend's Northeast-10 tournament.