NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Freshman Sarah Lowery (Chicago, Ill.) recorded a team-high 14 kills to lead the short-handed Saint Anselm College volleyball team Thursday evening, but the Hawks fell in straight sets 25-18, 25-19, 25-23, to Merrimack College on the Warriors' Hammel Court in both teams' final non-conference matchup of the season.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Lowery posted a team-high 14 kills to lead the Hawks for the second time over the past three matches. She also added three digs.
• Senior Lauren Oxley (Bristow, Va.) had some powerful swings from the middle, collecting six kills on 14 attacks for a team-best .357 hitting percentage to go with three digs and a block.
• Freshman Julia Keeler (Chicago, Ill.) tied a career-high with five kills in her first action since appearing in two sets against Pace University on Sept. 26.
• Freshmen Jewel Hays (Aliso Niguel, Calif.) and Riley Grussing (Willmar, Minn.) split setting duties Thursday, doling out 16 and nine assists, respectively.
• Junior CC Chrisom (Dover, N.H.) picked up 12 digs—the only Hawk in double-figures defensively.
• Merrimack's Jennifer Cain rocketed a match-high 17 kills on torrid .355 hitting to lead the Warriors.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Merrimack steadily built a hefty 20-13 lead in the opening set before a pair of Lowery kills and a pair of Warrior errors closed the gap to 20-17. However, it was a bit too late as Merrimack scored five of the last six points to take the first set.
• The Warriors poured it on to open the second frame and leapt out to a 7-1 start, but Saint Anselm roared back to tie the set at 15-15 with a 7-1 run of its own thanks to kills from Oxley, Lowery and sophomore Amanda Bickford (Salem, N.H.). However, Merrimack would break a 16-16 tie with a 9-3 closing run to cruise to a 25-19 second set victory.
• It appeared as if the Hawks were going to steal the fourth set, after turning a 15-12 deficit into a 20-17 lead off kills from Bickford, Keeler and several from Lowery. Yet Merrimack picked up clutch kills from Cain to retake the lead at 22-21 and wouldn't look back en route to a tight third-set sweep.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
• Head Coach Braden Zamore experimented with several new lineups on the evening as all 13 healthy—or at least partially healthy—players saw court time.
• Merrimack outhit Saint Anselm .252 to .182, also recording 42 kills to the Hawks' 35.
• The Warriors also collected 56 digs to the Hawks' 42. Saint Anselm, however, won the blocking battle with a slim 3.0-2.0 margin.
• Saint Anselm also recorded eight service errors, compared to just three miscues by the hosts.
NOTES
• The Hawks and Warriors scheduled a non-conference matchup for the second straight year and will meet again at Stoutenburgh Gym on Tuesday, November 8—that match counting toward the NE-10 standings.
• Merrimack improves to 31-16 all-time against Saint Anselm.
• Saint Anselm has dropped three straight—its first three-match losing streak this season.
UP NEXT
• Saint Anselm will have the entire weekend to prepare for its next Northeast-10 matchup against a team it has not fared all too well against, Bentley University. The dominant Falcons will bring their 28-0 all-time record into Stoutenburgh Gym Tuesday evening in a 7 p.m. matchup as Saint Anselm will play its next four matches at home.
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