WALTHAM, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College volleyball team fell in straight sets to open its Northeast-10 Conference schedule on Tuesday against Bentley University.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 9-4 on the season and to 0-1 in NE10 matches. Bentley improves to 6-6 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Hawks return to action on Friday, Oct. 1 against American International College. The match is slated for a 5:30 p.m.
The Falcons won in straight sets with scores of 26-24, 25-19, and 25-23.
Freshman
Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) led the Hawks offense with eight kills on 25 swings. Junior
Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) and sophomore
Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) followed closely with seven and six kills, respectively. Junior co-captain
Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) threw up 24 assists while Casey led the defensive effort with 15 digs.
Saint Anselm grabbed an early 11-5 lead in set one following a service ace by Brown. A kill from
Rachel Vitko got the Falcons back to within two but an attack error by Bentley and a kill from Casey got the Hawks lead back to four at 18-14. Bentley managed to tie the set at 22 before taking their first lead at 24-23. The Hawks forced extra points after a Bentley attack error but kills from
Ellie Wheeler and
Katie Rounds closed out the opening set, 26-24.
The Hawks took another early lead in set two and led by four, 14-10, following a service error by the Falcons. Bentley registered four-consecutive points to tie the set and added another four-point run to take control of the set. A kill from junior
Lois Dogbe (Winchester, Calif.) cut the lead to two at 18-20 but a pair of kills and a Hawks service error gave the Falcons a 2-0 edge in the match.
Bentley avoided its third slow set start as the hosts opened a 15-8 lead following a kill by Wheeler. The Hawks registered five of the next six points to work their way back into the set, stemming from kills by Dogbe and Henwood and a service ace by Brown. Bentley quickly regained the sizeable margin with five of the seven points to hold a 22-16 edge. Saint Anselm closed the gap to one following a Casey kill and a pair of Bentley errors, but the hosts held on to close out the match with a final set score of 25-23.
