MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College volleyball team snapped a two-game losing skid by downing Pace in straight sets in Northeast-10 Conference play on Friday evening.
With the win, the Hawks improve to 10-4 overall and 1-1 in NE10 play. The Setters fall to 1-8 with a 0-3 mark in league matches. Saint Anselm is back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 6 when Bridgeport comes to the Hilltop in the final non-conference contest of the season.
Saint Anselm won the match, 3-0, with set scores of 25-16, 25-13, and 25-19. On the season, the Hawks are 6-0 when playing inside Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
Freshman
Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) led all players with 12 kills, which ties her career-high. Junior
Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) registered 36 assists, putting her over 400 for the season. Henwood also eclipsed the 1,500 career assists mark. The Hawks defense was led by sophomores
Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) and
Alina Barbarena (Los Angeles, Calif.) who had eight and seven digs each. Saint Anselm posted nine service aces with six of them coming from junior
Lois Dogbe (Winchester, Calif.).
The teams battled in the opening frame as they hit near the midway point with the score knotted at 12. The Hawks pulled away in the set following seven straight points, starting with a Setters service error. Dogbe registered two of her service aces during the run and now with a 19-12 lead, Saint Anselm managed to close out the opening set, 25-16.
Saint Anselm gained an early advantage in set two, 10-4, following another seven-point swing. Junior
Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) and sophomore
Audrey Wetjen (Henderson, Nev.) each had a kill on the run while Dogbe added three more service aces. The Hawks held the six-point edge until the score was 18-12 and would go on the close out the set scored seven of the final eight points to take a 2-0 edge in the match. Brown, Wetjen, Casey, and sophomore
Emily Pender (Sparks, Nev.) accounted for five kills in the final stretch of the match.
In set three, the Hawks held a 15-12 lead following a two Pace errors. However, Saint Anselm would not let the margin get any closer than three as the lead quickly doubled following three straight points.
Henwood and Wetjen posted kills in the run and with the six-point gap, the Hawks would go on to close out the match, 3-0, and the final set, 25-19. Freshman
Jada Burdier (Haverhill, Mass.) registered her first career kill in the final set.
