OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team grabbed its sixth and seventh consecutive match victories, marking the finest start to a season in program history on Friday. The Hawks also set a new program record for most consecutive sets won at 19.

The Hawks (7-0) downed Kentucky State in straight sets, 25-17, 25-16, 25-11 before grabbing a five set win over Shorter (Ga.) by 25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 25-22, and 15-9 set scores. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 3 when they take on Harding and Nebraska-Kearney with match start times set for 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Senior Lauren Casey (Jefferson City, Mo.) led the Hawks on Friday with 27 kills on 74 swings, good for a .270 hitting percentage. Casey also added 25 digs for the defense, only trailing classmate Caroline Belmontez (San Diego, Calif.) who had 34 between the two matches.

Belmontez becomes just the ninth Saint Anselm student-athlete to eclipse 1,000 career digs as she now has 1,026 across her time on the Hilltop.

Senior Michelle Henwood (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) moved into fourth all-time in assists after recording 70 helpers on the day and now sits at 2,226 for her career.

Juniors Kaitlin Brown (Glendale, Ariz.) and Audrey Wetjen (Henderson, Nev.) and sophomore Gabby Belcher (Buckeye, Ariz.) added double-digit kills for the Hawks offense.

SAINT ANSELM 3, KENTUCKY STATE 0

The teams swapped points throughout the first set as the Hawks took a 14-12 lead following an attack error by the Thoroughbreds. However, Kentucky State posted three straight points to take a 15-14 lead. Saint Anselm rattled off 11 of the match's final 13 points to take set one, 25-17.

Set two started similarly to the opening frame as the teams traded scores early. After a kill by Cymiya Stokes, the Hawks led 12-11 before the teams swapped four-point runs to push the score to 16-15. A kill from Belcher and a service ace from sophomore Jada Burdier (Haverhill, Mass.) sparked a seven-point run for the Hawks who ultimately went on to close the second set, 25-16. After winning set one, the second set victory pushed the Hawks set winning streak to 17, which broke the program record for most consecutive set wins, set by the 2021 team.

The Hawks captured the first five points of the third set and never looked back in the third set. A service ace from Wetjen pushed the Hawks to a 15-5 lead and after trading of points, Saint Anselm scored the final six points of the set to capture a 25-11 set three win and the 3-0 victory.

SAINT ANSELM 3, SHORTER (GA.) 2

A back-and-forth battle to open the match saw Shorter take an 11-6 lead following a Hawks service error. Saint Anselm responded with the next nine points to take a 15-11 lead and forced both timeouts out of Shorter. Casey, freshman Ava Kidd (Walton, Ky.), Brown, and Henwood all posted kills on the stretch. Shorter would use a six-point run of their own to regain the lead at 21-20 but five of the final six points went the Hawks way, taking the first set 25-22 and extending the set streak to 19.

Shorter took a 13-10 into the middle of the second set but the Hawks took a 14-13 lead with a four-point run. However, Shorter responded with six of the next seven points to take a 21-17 edge. After a kill from each squad, the Hawks took a timeout and immediately scored on the next three points with kills from Wetjen and Casey and an error from Shorter. However, they closed the set out with three consecutive points, snapping the Hawks set streak at 19 with the 25-21 set two.

Another close opening saw Shorter lead 13-11 and a five-point run pushed them out to an 18-11 lead in the third set. However, the Hawks battled again by scoring eight of the next nine points to tie the set at 19. Five kills by Shorter were part of them registering six of the final eight points to take a two sets to one lead following the 25-21 set three.

After falling behind early in set four, the Hawks battled back and tied the fourth frame on a kill by Brown at 14. Shorter managed to open a two-point cushion at 16-14 but six of the next seven went the Hawks way. Saint Anselm took a 20-17 lead on a kill by Kidd. Shorter took a timeout and took five of the next six points to regain the lead but three kills from Brown and a Belmontez service ace forced a fifth set with the Hawks winning set four, 25-22.

Saint Anselm used the momentum from a strong end of set four to jump out to a 5-0 lead early in the fifth set. The teams went back-and-forth with the Hawks leading 10-6. Kills by Annie Veldhuis and Lacee Glover got Shorter to within two but four straight points on kills from Wetjen and Casey and a service ace from sophomore Kennedy Scheppler (Lubbock, Texas) put the Hawks on match point. One error for each side would close the match, giving the Hawks a 3-2 win following the 15-9 fifth and final set.