Junior Andrea Wirth dished out a career-best 67 assists to go with 18 digs tonight. |
Southern Connecticut Answers Stonehill Rally, 3-2
Owls shake off three match
points after Skyhawks rally
from two sets down to force fifth set
EASTON, Mass. (October 29, 2009) - Southern Connecticut State University held off a Stonehill College rally to claim a 3-2 (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 23-25, 20-18) victory in Northeast-10 Conference volleyball action at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.
Senior Nekane Mendizabal (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) led Southern with 18 kills and only one hitting error on 25 total attacks for a blistering .680 hitting percentage to go with 11 digs and eight blocks (two solo), while classmate Jenna Tammel (Spring Valley, Minn./Kingsland) posted 17 kills, 23 digs and two block assists. Senior Marcia Hollingsworth (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) chipped in with 15 kills and five block assists.
Freshman Kimberly Lachowicz (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield) dished out 56 assists, 19 digs, four blocks and two service aces, while classmate Vanessa Sullivan (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) posted 20 digs.
Junior Erin Johnson (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable) led Stonehill with a season-high 22 kills to go with 18 digs, while sophomore Laura Huselton (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) posted 17 kills, 25 digs and two solo blocks. Junior Andrea Wirth (Mesa, Ariz./St. Mary's) dished out a career-high 67 assists to go with 18 digs.
Junior Erin Johnson posted a season-best 22 kills to go with 18 digs tonight. |
Junior Laura Noonan (Hampstead, N.H./Bishop Guertin) posted 14 kills, while sophomore Michelle Thornhill (Canyon Lake, Calif./Temescal Canyon) added ten kills. Junior Justine Thompson (Merrimack, N.H./Bishop Guertin) chipped in with 34 digs.
Southern held off three match points in the fifth set after Stonehill rallied from a 0-2 deficit. A Johnson kill gave Stonehill its first match point at 14-12, and then Mendizabal sparked the comeback with a kill. After a Skyhawks hitting error knotted the score at 14-14, Thornhill gave Stonehill its third match point at 15-14. A Southern block by senior Marcia Hollingsworth (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) and Lachowicz gave the Owls their first lead of the set and the score see-sawed until a Stonehill hitting error and Mensizabal kill closed out the win.
Southern rolled to wins in the first two sets, but Stonehill roared back to win the next two and force the decisive fifth set. Stonehill came alive in the third set, jumping out to a 17-9 lead after an 11-3 run with Huselton posting three kills. A tight fourth set saw Stonehill force the decisive fifth set as the Skyhawks closed out the set with a Huselton kill and Southern hitting error.
Stonehill (14-9, 8-4 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it visits the University of New Haven at 1 p.m. Southern Connecticut State (22-7, 8-6 NE-10) heads to Caldwell College for a tri-match on Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.
