MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Anselm volleyball team headed across town this evening to face the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen in their first Northeast-10 Conference match of the season.  The Hawks showed tremendous improvement over their first outing against the Penmen, but eventually fell to Southern New Hampshire 15-11 in the fifth game of the best-of-five match. 

Tonight's match marked the first time all season the undefeated Penmen (7-0, 1-0 NE-10) have been forced into a fifth game, and just the second time all season they allowed their opponent to win even one game in a match.  

The Penmen dominated in the first game, taking it by a score of 25-16.  The Hawks then battled right back to win the second game 25-22, to tie the match at one.  The Penmen then regained control of the match, winning the third game by a score of 25-15.  The Hawks then took an early lead in the fourth, and won it 25-19, sending the match into the tie-breaking fifth game.  The Penmen took a quick 7-2 lead in the fifth, but the Hawks continued to fight, getting all the way to 11 points, before finally falling to the Penmen 15-11.

Sophomore Charlotte Tencza (Greenfield, Mass.) led the Hawks in kills with 16.  Junior Stephanie Devlin (Beverly, Mass.) was second in kills with seven, followed by freshman Samantha Elliott (Cumberland, R.I.) and junior Rachel Flaherty (Cold Spring, N.Y.) who each recorded a season-high five.  Flaherty led the team in assists with 21, followed by senior Kelly O'Dea (Andover, Mass.), who had a season-high 11 assists.

The Hawks (4-5, 0-1 NE-10) complete their six-game road trip this Saturday, September 26^th, as they take on the Stonehill College Skyhawks for their second of 11 consecutive Northeast-10 Conference matches.  The match will begin at 1:00 pm.