ALBANY, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team battled back from a 2-0 deficit on Friday, capturing a five-set victory at the College of Saint Rose.
Saint Anselm improves to 15-6 overall on the year and to 5-1 against the Northeast-10 Conference. Saint Rose drops below .500 on the year, coming out of the match with a 10-11 overall record alongside a 2-4 mark versus the conference.
The Hawks dropped the first two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-23 before overpowering Saint Rose, 25-12, in the third. Saint Anselm kept applying the pressure, winning set four by a 25-20 decision and jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the fifth and decisive set before earning a 15-7 result.
Senior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) hammered home 22 kills on 48 attacks, hitting .313 with 11 digs to her credit. She also produced five block assists for Saint Anselm while racking up 12 of her 22 kills in the fourth and fifth sets to help the Hawks to victory.
Junior Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) tallied 14 kills with sophomore Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) not far behind with 12. Senior Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) handed out 40 assists in the match, leading the team in digs as well with 14.
Senior Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) picked up 13 assists with 11 digs, coming just the sixth in team history to reach 1,200 digs in her career. She entered the match against the Golden Knights with 1,198 across 79 career matches.
Saint Anselm led set one by a 15-10 margin and eventually held a three-point lead, 18-15. Saint Rose stunned the Hawks down the stretch, racking up 10 of the next 12 points in the match to capture a 1-0 lead.
The Hawks once again let a lead slip away in set two, giving up an 18-13 advantage after Saint Rose fired of 12 of the set's final 17 points. Saint Anselm was able to tie the score at 19, 21 and 22, but the hosts made it happen with two kills and a Hawks attack error creating what was a strong two-point lead in the match.
Saint Anselm led by as many as 12 points in the third set, overwhelming Saint Rose and cutting into the match lead for the Golden Knights. A six-point run in the fourth set flipped a 16-13 deficit into a 19-16 lead for the Hawks, who demonstrated resiliency on the road.
The Hawks led by five points early in the fifth on the way to the fifth set win, at one point logging six consecutive points to capture a 14-5 advantage. Brown had two kills on her team's final three points, locking down the win in Albany.
In total, Saint Anselm hit .438 in the third set (18-4-32) and later produced a .324 attacking percentage in the fourth (18-6-37). The Hawks only saw two tied scores in the final three sets and only one lead change to completely reverse its fortune in the match down the stretch.
Saint Anselm heads to Syracuse, N.Y. on Saturday, Oct. 15 for a 1 p.m. tilt with the Dolphins of Le Moyne College.
