EASTON, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team dropped its season finale, 3-0, to Stonehill College on Sunday afternoon.
Saint Anselm moves to 1-1 on the season while Stonehill improves to 2-1 overall. Sunday's contest was the final countable fixture for the Hawks this semester as the team looks ahead to the 2021 fall season, graduating five senior student-athletes.
After a 10-kill day on Thursday, freshman
Audrey Simmons (North Hampton, N.H.) led the team with seven kills, one ahead of senior
Jordan Schamp (Plymouth, Mich.) who also had a team-high two service aces. Freshman
Audrey Wetjen (Henderson, Nev.) and senior
Elise Jolly (Merrimack, N.H.) each totaled six blocks on the day. Sophomore
Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) dished out 19 assists while sophomore
Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) earned a team-high 16 digs.
Saint Anselm committed only five attacking errors on the day and hit .275, but Stonehill punished the Hawks with 56 kills and 12 service aces. The Skyhawks committed 30 attacking errors as the team played without seniors and without a substitute throughout the match, but the hosts were able to use home court advantage on the way to the win.
Midway through the opening set, senior
Holly Manchester (Lodi, Wis.) tied the match at 13 off a kill. After that, the Skyhawks gained a 16-13 lead with three straight kills from
Basia Peragine. The Skyhawks would increase their advantage to a five-point margin later in the set off a
Jentry Allen kill, making it 20-15.
The Hawks responded by earning the next nine of 13 points to even the first set at 24. The span was ended on a Jolly strike. Both teams kept on trading blows until the set was tied at 31 before the hosts scored two straight points to secure the opening set win.
In the second set, the Hawks took an early 10-7 lead but the Skyhawks put the pressure on by taking an 18-15 edge. Then, the Hawks would fight back to within one but could not close the deal as
Abby Remick earned the final kill to close out the second set with a 25-23 victory.
The Skyhawks battled hard in the third set against Saint Anselm, who trailed by an 8-5 advantage after five straight points for the hosts. Later in the set, Saint Anselm would tie Stonehill for the final time at 14 before the Skyhawks went on an 8-1 run, distancing themselves from the Hawks with a 21-15 lead. The deficit was too large for the Hawks to mount a comeback as Stonehill won 25-21 in the third set.
Saint Anselm posted 11 blocks compared to the Skyhawks' four at the end of the match. Stonehill also logged more service aces, posting 12 while Saint Anselm hammered home only four aces.
