MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team grabbed a pair of non-conference wins over Saint Michael's College and D'Youville College in a tri-match on Saturday.

With the wins, both of which came in straight sets, the Hawks improve to 3-0 on the season. The team is back in action on Sunday, Aug. 28 with another tri-match from Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. Saint Anselm will battle Roberts Wesleyan to open the matches at 10 a.m. and close the weekend against Kutztown University.

Saint Anselm posted set score wins of 25-9, 25-13, and 26-24 in the match with the Purple Knights before downing the Saints by scores on 25-15, 25-15, and 25-21.

Between both matches, sophomore Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) led the Hawks offense with 16 kills on 32 swings. Classmate Kennedy Scheppler (Lubbock, Texas) and senior Colleen Chen (Superior, Colo.) posted 12 and 10 kills each for the Hawks offense.

Freshman Abigail Macalaguim (Chula Vista, Calif.) and senior Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) registered 26 and 21 assists each on the day. The Hawks as a team posted 23 service aces, led by Macalaguim who had six.

Senior Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) led the defense with 21 digs while Macalaguim, Henwood, and junior Alina Barbarena (Los Angeles, Calif.) all registered 10 or more digs.

Freshmen Anastasia Karaban (Northborough, Mass.) and Annabelle Stabach (Glastonbury, Conn.) joined Macalaguim as the trio made their collegiate debuts against the Purple Knights.

SAINT ANSELM 3, SAINT MICHAEL'S 0

Saint Anselm jumped out to an 11-1 lead to open the first set and never looked back in the opening frame, taking it by a 25-9 score. On the opening stretch, the Hawks registered five kills, three service aces, and were the beneficiaries of three errors from the Purple Knights.

The Hawks once again took an early lead and ran with it as they led 12-3 to open the second set. After registering seven of eight points to take a 20-6 lead following a kill by senior Kristen O'Keefe (Medford, Mass.), the Purple Knights responded seven of the next 10 points to push the score to 23-13. However, a pair of kills from Belcher closed set two at 25-13.

Set three opened as a back-and-forth battle with Saint Michael's taking a 7-6 edge after a service error. The Purple Knights would rattle off the next 10 points and lead 17-6 before each team swapped one point, ultimately pushing the set to 18-7. The Hawks responded with the next seven points and would cut the deficit to five at 22-17 following a kill from Chen. Kills by Dana Welch and Ella Patterson put the visitors on set point but Saint Anselm battled and used a 9-0 run to close the match with a set three score of 26-24, giving the Hawks a 3-0 match win. Belcher, Macalagum, and Chen combined for five kills on the closing run.

SAINT ANSELM 3, D'YOUVILLE 0

Saint Anselm opened the match with the first seven points. Henwood registered a service ace to open the set and senior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) and freshman Ava Kidd (Walton, Ky.) registered one kill each on the run. After the Saints pushed the score to 10-5 following a service ace from Madison Bradshaw, Saint Anselm pulled away with five of the next six points to lead 15-6. The squads swapped points on the way to closing set one at 25-15 for the Hawks on a kill from junior Audrey Wetjen (Henderson, Nev.).

D'Youville managed to keep the second set close early as a pair of errors from the Hawks pushed the score to 6-4 in favor of the hosts. However, five consecutive points and a stretch of nine of the next 11 points would go to Saint Anselm, capped by a pair of Scheppler service aces to give the Hawks a 15-6 lead. The teams would go on to trade points down the stretch as the Hawks took a 2-0 match lead after a 25-15 set two victory.

The Saints took an early set three lead and held a 9-4 edge following a Hawks attack error. Saint Anselm remained within striking distance as the teams once again traded points into the middle of the set with D'Youville leading 13-9 on a kill from Sarah Wittek. Five of the next six points went in favor of the Hawks which tied the set at 14. The Saints reestablished their lead and extended it to three following a service error by Saint Anselm at 20-17. The Hawks grabbed six points in a row and eight of the match's final nine points to close the day with a 25-21 set three win and their second 3-0 win of the day.