EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Saint Anselm College volleyball team dropped the opening match of the day to Pitt.-Johnstown before taking their final match of the East Stroudsburg Invitational over Kutztown. Both matches were won in straight sets.

The Hawks return to the Hilltop with a 6-2 record. The Mountain Cats improved to 4-1 with their win and Kutztown fell to 1-6 with the loss. Saint Anselm hosts Mercy on Tuesday, Sept. 14. The action is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start.

The Hawks were swept by the Mountain Cats (21-25, 22-25, 16-25) before closing out the weekend with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-22) victory over the Bears.

Junior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) was named to the All-Tournament Team.

MATCH ONE: Pitt.-Johnstown 3, Saint Anselm 0

Casey and sophomore Audrey Simmons (North Hampton, N.H.) paced the Hawks offense. Casey finished with 12 kills while Simmons recorded 11. Junior Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) notched 29 assists while classmate Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) posted 12 digs.

A back-and-forth opening set saw the Hawks take a 13-10 lead following a kill by Simmons and three Mountain Cats errors. Pitt.-Johnstown closed out the opening set by tallying six of the final seven points, registering the fifth lead change in the second half of the set. The Hawks hit at a .105 percentage and committed six errors while the Mountain Cats registered a .163 hitting percentage.

The Hawks led 9-5 early in the second set but the Mountain Cats would mount a comeback and take a 16-13 lead following four straight points on a pair of kills by Grace Miller, a Hawks attack error, and a service ace by Lexi Pendergraft. Four of the next five points went the way of Saint Anselm as kills by Casey, Simmons, and Henwood tied the set at 17. However, three straight points by Pitt.-Johnstown gave them enough of a gap to close out the set, 25-22, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set three opened with the Mountain Cats grabbing a 12-8 lead. Three consecutive Mountain Cats errors got the Hawks back to within one but a four-point run gave Pitt.-Johnstown an 18-13 lead. Down the stretch, the Mountain Cats registered the last six points to close out the match with a 25-16 third set.

MATCH TWO: Saint Anselm 3, Kutztown 0

Casey led all student-athletes with 21 kills. She also was the match's dig leader with 13. Sophomore Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) had two aces. As a team, the Hawks had six service aces. Henwood registered 42 assists. Belmontez and sophomore Alina Barbarena (Los Angeles, Calif.) added 12 and 11 digs each for the Hawks defense.

Saint Anselm led 14-9 in the opening set as sophomore Audrey Wetjen (Henderson, Nev.) registered her first kill of the set. The Hawks later stretched the lead to six at 19-13 on a Henwood service ace. With the sizeable lead, Saint Anselm traded points with the Bears to close out set one, 25-20.

An early 10-3 lead for the Hawks opened set two. The lead would stay near seven throughout the set until Saint Anselm tallied six of the final seven points to close out set two. Casey had a kill and a service ace while Simmons added a kill in the closing stretch. The Hawks won the set by a 25-15 score.

Saint Anselm trailed by as many as five in the third set, 13-8. The Hawks closed the gap with three straight points on a pair of errors from the Bears and a Casey kill to knot the set at 19. Casey gave the Hawks the lead for good in the set with three straight kills and closed out the match with a kill, completing the comeback in set three to take the match, 3-0.