DURHAM, N.H. (October 12, 2022)- The Stonehill College women's volleyball kicked off their three-game road trip in a non-conference matchup against the University of New Hampshire of the America East Conference where the Skyhawks fell 3-0 (17-25, 19-25, 10-25) Wednesday evening at Lundholm Gymnasium. 

Mia Berardino once again led the squad in kills with nine. In seven of her last eight matches, Berardino has finished with five or more kills. Not far behind was Kaitlyn Watson with seven kills which marked her tenth time this year with five or more kills. Delaney Mihelich guided the offense with 11 assists and she has now posted 10 or more assists in her last 10 matches. Defensively, Kristen DeLorenzo posted eight digs and right behind her was Mihelich with seven digs which tied her career-best.  

In the opening set, Stonehill's offense helped get the purple and white out to an early 6-3 lead spearheaded by two kills from Berardino and a kill by Kristen Joyce. UNH pushed back and tied the match at seven behind a 4-1 run but the Skyhawks pulled ahead by two (10-8) after kills from Jentry Allen and Berardino. Both sides continued to battle throughout the opening set and after the Wildcats went up two (16-14), Stonehill evened up the contest at 16 after a kill from Watson and UNH attack error. However, UNH pulled ahead and took set one with a 9-1 run by the score of 25-17. Overall in a highly competitive first set, there were six ties and one lead change. 

Set number two saw more competitive play early on and the Wildcats jumped out to an 8-5 lead but like the last set, Stonehill rallied to tie things at eight courtesy of back-to-back kills from Watson along with a UNH attack error. UNH continued to hold off any Stonehill momentum as the Wildcats went up three again (13-10) and even though the Skyhawks trimmed it to two (13-11) after a Skylar Hanley kill, UNH utilized a 4-1 run for a five-point advantage (17-12). The Skyhawks cut the deficit down to three (19-16) behind a 4-2 rally that featured a Bianca Fitch service ace and multiple UNH errors. Despite pulling within three, that was the closest Stonehill would get the rest of the set as the Wildcats closed things out with 6-3 push (25-19). 

The final set was all UNH as the Wildcats opened up an early seven-point advantage (9-2). Stonehill kept things within seven (13-6) after another kill by Watson but UNH put the match away with a 9-0 run (22-6) and would eventually grab the final three points that secured the match sweep, 25-10. In the third set, Berardino paced the attack with three kills and Mihelich dished out four assists.

Up Next

Stonehill kicks off its weekend with a Friday Northeast Conference match at Central Connecticut State University starting at 5 p.m.

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