QUEENS, N.Y. (September 9, 2022)- The Stonehill College women's volleyball team is competing in the 2022 Kaiser Classic and wrapped up day one of competion. In the Skyhawks first match against Bryant, Stonehill fell 3-0 (11-25, 23-25, 20-21-25). Stonehill's second match was against Southeastern Louisiana where the purple and white fell, 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 20-25). 

Bryant 3, Stonehill 0

(11-25, 23-25, 20-21-25)

Mia Berardino and Jentry Allen led the Skyhawks offense with six and five kills respectively. For Berardino, it is her fourth time with five or more kills and second consecutive game with six kills. Meanwhile for Allen, it is her fifth time this season with at least five kills. Molly Turner and Delaney Mihelich guided the offense with 12 and 10 assists each. It marked Turner's fourth contest with at least 10 or more assists in a match along with Mihelich as well who has also accompished the feat four times. Kristen DeLorenzo was all over the floor as she finished with 18 digs. It is the second time this year she has posted 15 or more digs. 

Bryant jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but the Skyhawks cut the lead in half after an Allen kill that made it 2-1. However, from there it was all Bryant as the Bulldogs rattled off a 13-2 run and never looked back. Stonehill cut the deficit back to single digits (17-8) when Turner landed a service ace. Despite the lead being knocked down to nine, the Bulldogs wrapped up set one with a 8-3 run. Berardino led the Skyhawks with two kills in the set and Allen, Lindsey Peirson, and Lauren McCloskey each notched kills themselves. 

After finding themselves down early in set two (7-3), Stonehill rallied to tie the contest at eight courtesy of a 5-1 rally spearheaded by two service aces from Mihelich and kills from Emma Graves and Berardino. However, Bryant responded with a rally of their own going on a 6-0 run and pushed their lead up to six (14-8). Despite the large lead, the Skyhawks cut the deficit to three (15-12) after taking advantage of a Bryant service error. The Bulldogs offense kicked in again to go back up six (21-15). Like they did all set, the purple and white responded and tied the match at 22 courtest of a 7-1 spurt led by two more service aces by Mihelich and kills from Graves and Berardino. Mihelich's four service aces marked a new career-high for the freshman setter. The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead (23-22) but Stonehill again tied the contest thanks to a Skylar Hanley kill. Bryant ended up taking the next two points to narrowly win set two. 

The Bulldogs again started out quick when they jumped out to a 10-2 lead early in the final set. Despite the large lead, Stonehill continued to slowly pick away finding themselves down five (15-10) after a service ace by Turner. Bryant again pushed their lead up to nine (23-14) later in the match but the Skyhawks did not go quietly. The squad pushed hard at the end and trimmed the Bryant lead to three (24-21) after an 7-1 rally highlighed by two kills from Kristen Joyce. Despite the late run, Bryant secured the last point for the sweep. 

Southeastern Louisiana, 3 Stonehill, 0

(19-25, 15-25, 20-25)

Amanda Maier finished with a season-high, seven kills in match number two Friday afternoon. Not far behind was McCloskey and Kaitlyn Watson who notched six kills each. Turner finished with yet another double-digit assist day as she tallied 17 helpers. It is her fifth time this year with 10 or more assists. Mihelich had another strong performance as well with seven assists on the day.  DeLorenzo finished with a new career-high, 21 digs Friday. With her impressive tally, she has now posted 15 or more digs four times in her career. 

Both sides started out playing back and forth but Stonehill grabbed an early 4-3 advantage courtesy of a Maier kill. Neither team let the other pull away from the other as no one saw a lead larger than four in the first part of the set. After the Lions grabbed a 11-7 lead, Stonehill fought back and retook the lead (13-12) from a 5-1 push that featured kills from Berardino and Allen. Later in the match, Southeastern Louisiana started to find their rhythem and increased their lead to five (22-17) and despite a Lions service error to cut the deficit to four (22-18), Southeastern Louisiana held on for the 25-19 set one win. 

At the start of the second set, the Skyhawks jumped out to a quick 5-3 lead thanks to kills by two kills from Graves. The Lions ended up tying the match at seven and from there went on a 9-3 run for their largest lead of the set (17-11). Stonehill slowly chipped away and trimmed the lead down to four (18-14) thanks to two kills from Watson. However, from that point, Southeastern Louisiana wrapped up set two with a 7-1 run. McClosky paced the Skyhawks in the second set with three kills and Graves and Watson followed behind her with two kills each.

In the third set, Stonehill grabbed the first point but from there, Southeastern Louisiana reclaimed the lead and pushed their advantage to three (6-3). The Skyhawks trimmed it back to two (7-5) after taking advantage of a Lions service error. Southeastern Louisiana continued their momentum though and pushed the lead to six (11-5). After cutting it down to four (12-8) courtesy of a McCloskey kill, the Lions utilized a 6-1 run to record their largest lead in the set (18-9). The Skyhawks again picked away at a large deficit and found themselves down five (20-15) after going on a 6-2 rally that featured a DeLorenzo service ace and Maier kill. However, the Lions ended up putting the match away with a 5-0 run for the sweep.

Up Next

Stonehill concludes the last day of the Kaiser Classic taking on host, St. John's University (N.Y.) tomorrow at 2 p.m. 

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