MANCHESTER, Mass. – Sophomore Katy Teets (Dix Hills, N.Y.) recorded a match-high 16 kills and two service aces and senior Lauren Oxley (Bristow, Va.) added a season-high 11 kills, a match-high four blocks and a pair of service aces to her own accord as the Saint Anselm College volleyball team steamrolled through Northeast-10 Conference rival Merrimack College Tuesday evening at Stoutenburgh Gym, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Teets' 16-kill effort was a carbon copy of Saturday's match at Assumption, even eerily recording the same amount of errors (four) and total attacks (31) for a .387 attack percentage. She also tallied two aces from the service line for the second straight match.
• Oxley's 11 kill-performance put her in double-digits for the fourth time this season, besting a trio of 10-kill outings earlier this year. She also picked up two service aces for the second straight match, and her four blocks were third-best this season.
• Freshman Jewel Hays (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) dished out 37 assists, a career-high for a three-set match that also ranks among the top 10 performances all-time in that category. She added her seventh double-double with 11 digs and also picked up a block on the evening.
• Three Hawks recorded double-digit digs, including Hays and sophomore Danielle Isbell (Poway, Calif.) with 11. Junior CC Chrisom (Dover, N.H.) made her return to the court impactful with a team-high 13 digs.
• Also adding to the defensive effort were sophomore Amanda Williams (North Andover, Mass.) and freshman Sarah Lowery (Chicago, Ill.), who, with Oxley, each put up four blocks.
For the Warriors…
• Merrimack struggled offensively much of the night, led by Jennifer Cain's six kills.
• Madison Burke picked up a match-high 22 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Anselm jumped out to a small advantage early in the first set, as kills by Lowery, Teets and a block by Williams and Lowery pushed the Hawks to a 14-9 lead. The Warriors chipped away, using a four-point run to eventually take its first lead since the opening point at 19-18. Lowery earned a sideout and Oxley cranked a pair of aces to hand Saint Anselm a 23-19 lead, eventually ending the match with yet another thunderous Lowery blast to take the opening frame 25-22.
• Saint Anselm stretched to an early four-point lead that it held for much of the first half of the second set, but the Warriors climbed back into it with a series of Hawk errors, taking a short 13-12 lead. The teams would trade 14 straight points before Oxley strung a kill and pair of blocks together to cap off the second set, 25-22.
• The Hawks seemingly shook off their third set bugaboo Tuesday, surging to an early 5-1 lead and holding the pesky Warriors at that deficit for the majority of it. Kills from Williams and Teets, and a tandem block from Williams and Hays earned Saint Anselm a much-needed home sweep.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
• Saint Anselm hit above .200 as a team for just the second time in the past eight matches, accruing a .214 attack percentage while holding Merrimack to .018 as a team.
• Saint Anselm's 41 assists on 43 total kills rank among the top 10 in a three-set match in program history.
• The Hawks outblocked Merrimack 8-1 and narrowly outdug the Warriors, 53-48.
• 36 of Merrimack's total 62 points scored on the night came off Saint Anselm errors, including 13 from the Hawks service line.
NOTES
• Saint Anselm cuts into a hefty all-time deficit against Merrimack, improving to 17-31.
• Tuesday's win snaps a five-match losing streak to the Warriors.
• The chances may be slim, but the Hawks also remain mathematically alive in the NE-10 Championship postseason hunt after Tuesday's victory.
UP NEXT
• Saint Anselm will play its final home match of the 2015 season Saturday, welcoming NE-10 frontrunner and thus-far league unbeaten Adelphi University to Stoutenburgh Gym for a 1 p.m. matchup. Oxley, the lone senior on this year's team, will be recognized in a short pre-match ceremony.
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