SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team was downed in four sets by American International College on Friday at the Henry A. Butova Gymnasium.
Saint Anselm, the No. 10 team in the East Region, falls to 18-7 overall on the season and to 8-4 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. American International, the second-ranked program in the region, moves to 23-6 and has won 16 consecutive matches – the Yellow Jackets are 10-2 in league play.
The Hawks jumped ahead with a first set victory, claiming the win by a 25-21 margin, but the home team rallied back to win each of the final three sets via scores of 25-18, 25-19 and 25-19. Saint Anselm concludes the regular season at Adelphi on Saturday, Nov. 13 – the match will begin at 1 p.m.
Freshman Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) had 15 kills to lead Saint Anselm. Junior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) had 11 kills on 33 swings, logging a double-double with 10 digs defensively. Junior Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) posted 24 digs with sophomore Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) helping out with 15 of her own. Junior Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) set up 41 of her team's 50 kills.
With the first set tied at 16, Saint Anselm pulled away for good by taking advantage of a Yellow Jackets attacking error before Casey logged kills on two of the next three points in the stanza. In total, the Hawks logged three of the final four points of the opening set, using back-to-back kills from Belcher to take the opener.
Saint Anselm led by three points, 8-5, before American International tied the second set at nine. The Yellow Jackets scored five of the next six points of the match, stunning the Hawks and eventually using that momentum to claim victory in the match. Saint Anselm trailed by just three points, 21-18, before the hosts rattled off four consecutive points to tie the match at one set apiece.
The Hawks were stunned in the third set, trailing by as many as 10 points at 16-6. At one point, Saint Anselm had conceded eight points out of a nine-point stretch as there was no answer for Mai-Lani Hernandez and her three kills and a solo block in that span. Down 23-11, Saint Anselm made an attempt at a comeback, scoring eight points, but two kills from Paola Soto-Burgos ended the set.
Saint Anselm led the fourth set by a 10-9 margin, but American International scored seven of the next eight points and never looked back. Neither team converted attacks at a solid rate in the fourth set, but American International took advantage of nine attacking errors by Saint Anselm to secure the victory.
Hernandez had 15 kills on 22 swings, hitting a dominant .591 in the match, with Andrea Serra posting 16 kills to lead the team. Amanda Rodriguez had 18 digs.
