MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College volleyball team soared to a 3-0 victory over the College of Saint Rose on Friday.

The Hawks, who are the 10th-ranked team in the East Region, improve to 16-6 on the season with a 6-3 in Northeast-10 Conference action while the Golden Knights fall to 7-18 overall and 1-10 in conference matches. With the win, Head Coach Braden Zamore posted his 100th win at the helm of the Saint Anselm College volleyball program. 

Saint Anselm posted a 25-8 opening set win and carried the momentum from the hot start to a 25-16 result in set two and a 25-19 score in the third and final set.

Leading the Hawks offense was sophomore Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) who fired a career-high 12 kills. Junior Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) threw up 30 assists, recording at least 30 helpers in nine-consecutive matches and 13 on the season. Classmate Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) notched a match-high 14 digs.

Saint Anselm jumped out to a 10-1 lead to open the match. After trading of points in the middle of the set, the Hawks recorded nine of the final 10 points of the first set to record the 25-8 victory in the opener. Henwood, junior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.), junior Lois Dogbe (Winchester, Calif.), Brown, and sophomore Audrey Simmons (North Hampton, N.H.) all recorded kills in the closing stretch.

After Saint Rose grabbed an early lead in set two, a kill by Brown, a pair of Dogbe service aces, and a Golden Knights attack error gave the Saint Anselm a 6-4 lead which they would not relinquish in the set. With the score at 14-10, the Hawks recorded four consecutive points to build an eight-point edge which would give them enough space to wrap up set two by a 25-16 score.

The Hawks held a 15-10 advantage in the middle of the third set but a four-point swing by the Golden Knights cut their deficit to one, coming from three errors by Saint Anselm and a service ace by Julia Cavalcanti. Following the run, four of the next five points went the Hawks way on three kills by Brown and one from Simmons which pushed the lead back to four. From the 19-15 score, the teams swapped points as Saint Anselm posted its 10th win at home this season, 25-19, and in straight-set fashion.

Saint Anselm has a quick turnaround as Le Moyne comes to the Hilltop on Saturday, Nov. 6 with contest starting at 1 p.m.