NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Saint Anselm College volleyball team fell to Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 Conference play by a 3-1 score on Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks drop to 15-6 on the season with a 5-3 record in NE10 play while the Owls improve to 20-8 and 6-3 in league matches.
Southern Connecticut State won the opening set by a 25-18 score before the Hawks claimed the second set by the same score. The hosts managed to win sets three and four by 25-20 and 25-21 scores to lock down the four-set win.
Junior
Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) led the Hawks with 15 kills while freshman
Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) added 10 kills to the offensive attack. Junior
Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) threw up 31 assists while sophomore
Alina Barbarena (Los Angeles, Calif.) registered a match-high 21 digs.
The Owls opened the first set with three straight points stemming from two Hawks errors and a kill from
Abigail Epstein and never looked back as they would eventually lead by as many as eight at 21-13. Southern Connecticut would go on to close out set one on a Hawks service error, 25-18.
Saint Anselm dropped the first point of set one and took the lead on a pair of Belcher kills and a pair of Owls errors, grabbing an early 4-1 lead. Southern Connecticut would tie the set at 15 on a kill by
Erika Benson but 10 of the set's final 13 points, including the final six points, went Saint Anselm's way, closing out set two by a 25-18 score.
Southern Connecticut registered six consecutive points in the middle of the third set to open a 15-10 lead. Saint Anselm recorded a three-point run late in the set, all coming from Owls errors, to force a timeout at 24-20. The timeout worked in the Owls favor as
Gabriela Vazquez ended the third set with a kill, giving the hosts a 2-1 edge in the match.
The teams were deadlocked at 12 midway through set four following four consecutive points from the Hawks on kills by Casey and sophomore
Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.). However, the Owls recorded seven of the next 10 points to gain a 19-15 lead as they maintained the four-point edge to close out the match with a 3-1 victory.
The Hawks are back in action on Friday, Nov. 5 when Saint Rose comes to the Hilltop. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
