MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team posted a 3-0 victory over Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Tuesday.
With the win, the Hawks improve to 13-6 on the season and 3-1 in conference matches. The Purple Knights drop to 1-12 overall and 0-4 in NE10 play. Saint Anselm has a quick turnaround as the Hawks will head to Assumption University on Thursday, Oct. 6 for a 7 p.m. battle with the Greyhounds.
Saint Anselm posted set scores of 25-20, 25-18, and 25-22 on its way to the straight sets victory.
Senior
Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) and sophomore
Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) registered 11 and nine kills apiece to lead the Hawks offense.
Senior co-captain
Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) collected 33 assists in the match. She has gone for 30 or more helpers in a single match eight time this season. Senior co-captain
Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) led the Hawks defensive efforts with a match-high 13 digs, extening her streak of double-digit digs to seven matches.
The opening set was a back-and-forth battle which saw the teams pull even at 20, following a Saint Anselm attack error. Leading up to that point, neither side led by more than two points. The Hawks would go on to close out the set with each of the next five points. Three Saint Michael's errors and a pair of Belmontez service aces got the Hawks to the 25-20 set win.
A kill by junior
Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) gave the Hawks a 9-4 lead early in set two. However, the Purple Knights cut the lead to one at 13-12 but Saint Anselm would respond with six of the next eight points to regain the five-point lead at 19-14. After swapping of scores pushed the match to 22-18 for the Hawks, Saint Anselm closed the second set with each of the final three points to take a 2-0 edge in the match.
A service error by Saint Michael's gave the Hawks an 18-17 lead late in set three. However, the Purple Knights would net each of the next four points to lead 21-18 which forced a timeout from Saint Anselm. Following the stoppage, the Hawks registered seven of the final eight points including each of the last five to take the set, 25-22 and the match, 3-0.
