MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team secured a straight-set victory over the University of New Haven on Friday in Northeast-10 Conference play.
Saint Anselm (19-8, 8-3 NE10) snaps a brief two-match losing streak with the result, improving its winning streak against the Chargers to five games. New Haven drops to 15-11 overall on the year and to 6-5 against the league.
Winning by set scores of 26-24, 25-23, and 25-20, the Hawks were led by a 16-kill performance by senior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.). Freshman Ava Kidd (Walton, Ky.) threw down seven kills on 15 swings and also posted two solo blocks while junior Audrey Wetjen (Henderson, Nev.) posted five solo blocks, leading student-athletes from both sides.
Defensively, senior Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) led the way with 16 digs while setting up 34 kills for Saint Anselm. Classmate Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) handed out eight assists with 11 digs and freshman Skylar Ryan (Channahon, Ill.) came off the bench with a career-high nine digs.
The Hawks trailed 20-15 in the first set but quickly closed the gap, firing off six of the next eight points in the match. Still trailing later on in the stanza, the Hawks overcame a 23-21 deficit with five of the final six points to eke out a 26-24 victory – a Casey service ace at set point was the difference-maker for the hosts.
New Haven responded to an early 19-14 lead by Saint Anselm in set two, stunning the Hawks by tying the affair at 20. Saint Anselm jumped out to a 24-21 lead before another set-ending point by Casey clinched a 2-0 match lead for Saint Anselm, as her kill set up by Henwood thwarted a late New Haven charge.
With the third set score even at 14, Saint Anselm fired off six of the next seven points to take a commanding 20-15 advantage. In that span, sophomore Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) and Wetjen had kills while junior Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) added a service ace for good measure.
Brown finished the match by crossing the 400-dig threshold for her career, entering Saturday's match with Southern Connecticut State with 407 in a 54-match career.
The Hawks will honor its six-senior class against the Owls on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
