MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Sarah Lowery (Chicago, Ill.) and sophomore Katy Teets (Dix Hills, N.Y.) each recorded double-digit kills, but the Saint Anselm College volleyball team was upset by visiting Saint Michael's College Friday evening at Stoutenburgh Gym, 20-25, 20-25, 25-10, 25-23, 15-11.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Lowery's career-high 19 kills matched her effort in another five-set match against American International College earlier this season. She also added five digs and a block Friday.
• Teets tallied 13 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. She also recorded three blocks and a season-high five service aces on the night.
• Freshman Jewel Hays (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) dished out 46 assists and 10 digs of her own, her fifth double-double of the year.
• Senior Lauren Oxley (Bristow, Va.) added nine kills and a trio of blocks.
• Junior CC Chrisom (Dover, N.H.) saved a team-high 16 digs, with sophomore Danielle Isbell (Poway, Calif.) adding 12 digs of her own.
For the Purple Knights…
• Candace Washington paced Saint Michael's with 18 kills on a .414 hitting clip to go with six blocks.
• Megan Priester and Kelsey Flaherty added 18 and 16 kills, respectively.
• Catie Weller offered up 60 assists, while Natalie Moore tallied a match-high 21 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first two sets were played nearly identically at the start, as both teams traded points until midway through the frame. In both instances, the Hawks used a series of short runs to eventually pull away late, as kills by Lowery stamped 25-20 victories for the Hawks in both sets. The Hawks hit .323 over the first two sets alone.
• Just when it appeared Saint Anselm was on its way to a commanding sweep, Saint Michael's awoke with a fury. Via an efficient Purple Knight offense and a complete breakdown in Saint Anselm's serve receive, Saint Michael's cruised to a lopsided 25-10 victory in the third. The Hawks mustered just five total kills and hit -.033 in the set.
• Set four began just as the third set ended with Saint Michael's barreling out to a 5-0 lead off a handful of Hawk errors. A couple of Teets service aces and a handful of SMC attack errors would eventually tie the set at 10-10. Saint Michael's would begin to pull away, stretching to a 22-17 lead off a trio of Priester kills, before Lowery rallied with three kills of her own. After warding off the first set point, a Washington putaway would lock the match at 2-2, sending it to a decisive fifth set.
• A slow start is an incredibly difficult hurdle to overcome, and the Hawks faced just that by spotting Saint Michael's four straight points. Finally, kills by Teets, sophomore Amanda Bickford (Salem, N.H.) and another Teets ace would pull Saint Anselm to within one, 6-5. Down 8-5 at the turn, a Saint Michael's service error and kills by Lowery and freshman Julia Keeler (Chicago, Ill.) evened the score at 8-8. After trading points, Saint Michael's Megan Mulvaney came up with two timely kills and pushed the Purple Knights out to a four-point lead it would never relinquish, capped off by another thunderous Washington cut shot from the middle to hand Saint Michael's a huge steal on the road.  

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• After a torrid start, Saint Anselm struggled to get into offensive rhythm over the final three sets, attacking at a humble .107 percent. Adversely, Saint Michael's recorded just 10 errors over the final three sets combined, including a 10-kill, 1-error .346 pace in the decisive set.
• Despite the close match score, the Purple Knights dominated most statistical categories, including kills (69-55), assists (67-53), attack percentage (.294-.189), digs (74-62) and blocks (8.0-7.0). Saint Anselm did double-up the Purple Knights in service aces, however, (10-4).

NOTES

• The win improves Saint Michael's to 15-17 in the all-time series.
• Four of Saint Anselm's six league games have gone five sets; the Hawks are 1-3 in five-set league matches this season.
• Saint Anselm's first-set victory snapped a 10-set losing streak, but the Hawks' overall losing streak stretches to five matches.
• Over 200 people packed Stoutenburgh Gym Friday night, the highest attended match so far this season.

UP NEXT

• Saint Anselm will have the week off to prepare for a weekend series against NE-10 foes from the Constitution State, hosting Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday afternoon before welcoming University of New Haven for a Sunday matinee.

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