LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Senior setter Natalie Steinwart (Aurora, Ill.) recorded her 3,000th career assist Saturday and the Saint Anselm volleyball team picked up a pair of non-conference victories at the Georgian Court Tri-Match Saturday, beating Felician College 25-19, 25-21, 25-14, before knocking off the host Lions 23-25, 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 15-13.
Saint Anselm opened the day on a good note, nearly doubling Felician (5-12) in several statistical categories. Freshman outside Kathryn Teets (Dix Hills, N.Y.) tallied 13 kills and four service aces while she and senior middle Melissa Ouellet's (Salem, N.H.) eight kills equaled the offensive output of the Golden Falcons as a team.
In the nightcap against Georgian Court, flashes of an earlier-season matchup between the two teams shone through. Similarly, the Hawks were able to pull out the fifth set in dramatic fashion led by the tandem of junior outside Lauren Oxley (Bristow, Va.) and freshman middle Amanda Williams (North Andover, Mass.). Together, they registered 29 kills and just three errors for a .366 hitting clip.
Williams also recorded a match-high six blocks against Georgian Court (13-11), while sophomore middle Micaela Donatio (North Andover, Mass.) added five stuffs in the sweep of Felician.
Steinwart tallied 33 assists against the Golden Falcons and 40 more against the Lions, bringing her career tally to 3,034 while donning a Saint Anselm uniform. She is only the second player to reach this milestone and currently ranks second all-time on the assists records list.
The pair of wins evens the season record for the Hawks back to 10-10 overall. Saint Anselm is still eying a bid to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, but will need a strong finish over its final six league matches in order to secure its first playoff spot since 2004.
The Hawks will start that run with a pair of important home matches next weekend, hosting Saint Rose Friday evening and Le Moyne Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gym.
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