Maxey and Lee combine for 31 kills in loss to defending East Regional champs

Junior Sydney Maxey led the Skyhawks in kills with 16 on the night.

EASTON, Mass. (September 25, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's volleyball team was edged by the University of Bridgeport, 3-2, by scores of 24-26, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17 and 8-15 in non-conference action on Tuesday night at Merkert Gymnasium on "Black Out Night."

Three Skyhawks posted double-digits in kills as junior outside hitter Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutto) turned in a team-leading 16 kills, sophomore middle blocker Meaghan Lee (Hanover, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) had 15 putaways and junior right-side hitter Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover) supplied 12 kills. Maxey also had ten digs to record her first double-double of the season.

Sophomore setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill./York) notched her third double-double of the season with a match-high 49 assists and 14 digs. Senior libero Erin Kelly (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) led the defense with 25 digs to go along with six service aces and one assist while Delia Phillips (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) compiled seven kills, one assist, eight digs and one block assist.

For Bridgeport, sophomore outside hitter Biljana Savic (Novi Sad, Serbia/Gimnazija Isidora Sekulic) tied for the match-high in kills with 16 and also added 19 digs. Classmate Ying Shen (Nanjing, China/Syracuse University) posted 13 kills and 18 digs while senior middle blocker Sabrina Simas (Blumenau, Brazil/College of Eastern Utah) chipped in with ten kills, two digs and two block assists.

Fernanda Silva (Brasilia, Brazil/Alabama State) dished out 44 assists for the Purple Knights and added eight digs and two assists. Senior Taylor McBeth (Langley, BC, Canada/Walnut Grove) paced all players in digs with 26.

In a match that saw 38 ties and 18 lead changes total, set one stood out as Stonehill and Bridgeport recorded 14 ties and six lead changes alone.

After the Skyhawks took a timeout trailing 24-23, Maxey responded for Stonehill with her third kill of the game to push the score even at 24-24. Shen regained the lead for the Purple Knights on the very next serve-receive with her set-leading sixth putaway of the game. Bridgeport then took the game on a Skyhawks attacking error.

With the score notched at 14-14 in set two, Stonehill regrouped with an 11-6 run to push the match score to 1-1. Arvidson and Maxey led the way for the Skyhawks as the duo combined for nine kills and three digs.

Bridgeport used a .343 hitting percentage, 15 kills and 17 digs to reclaim the lead, 2-1, in set three with Savic and Darsel Springer (Bonai Gardens, Trinidad & Tobago/AIC) both delivering four kills apiece.

In set four, Stonehill stifled the Purple Knights attack holding the opposition to a match-low 22 total attacks (in a 25-point set) and countered that with 11 kills, nine digs, four blocks and four service aces to win the game, 25-17. Arvidson and Lee tallied three kills each while Kelly and freshman Kelsey Weymouth (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) both had two service aces. Weymouth also contributed nine digs and one kill for the Skyhawks in the loss.

Set five belonged to the Purple Knights as they raced out to a 10-7 advantage and never looked back. After two Stonehill attack errors and a kill by Maxey pushed the score to 12-8, Bridgeport used a putaway of its own from Springer and two block assists to halt the Skyhawks comeback.

Stonehill (6-6, 1-2 NE-10) hosts Saint Michael's College in an Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) matchup on Saturday, September 29 in Merkert Gymnasium at 1 p.m. Bridgeport (8-2, 2-0 ECC) travels to Queens (N.Y.) College on Thursday, September 27 for a conference match at 7 p.m.