Box Score MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team was upended by Bentley in straight sets in their Northeast-10 Conference opener on Friday night.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm travels to West Haven, Conn. to take on New Haven in NE10 action on Tuesday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m.
Score: Saint Anselm 0, Bentley 3
Records: Saint Anselm (6-9, 0-1 NE10); Bentley (12-3, 4-0 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Friday, October 11th, 2024
Attendance: 116
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Bentley jumped out to an 8-5 advantage in the first set with the help of strong swings by Caitlin Wunder and Rachel Vitko. Consecutive service aces by junior Abigial Macalaguim (Chula Vista, Calif.) helped Saint Anselm stay within striking distance.
- The Falcons kept putting points together, but a pair of kills by freshman Taylor Lacerda (Franklin, Mass.) kept the Hawks in the set with the score at 13-10.
- Bentley then capitalized off a few strong blocks paired with errors from the home team to take a 19-11 lead, forcing a Saint Anselm timeout.
- After the short break, sophomore Melis Kocak (East Greenwich, R.I.) sparked the Hawks with three quick kills to trim the deficit to 21-16, Falcons.
- Lacerda attempted to keep the set alive with another kill, but a final swing by Sophia Poehlein sealed the first set victory for Bentley, 25-19.
- The second set got off to a back-and-forth start with both teams trading points, resulting in an 11-11 score. Sophomore Hollyn Frano (Cave Creek, Ariz.) delivered a service ace and a kill for the Hawks, while Macalaguim got involved with a pair of kills as well.
- Later in the set, Bentley fired off nine straight points to take a commanding 22-12 lead. Three service aces by Elizabeth Blinn and two kills by Poehlein helped ignite that run.
- Saint Anselm showed some resilience and responded by taking seven of the next eight points to make it 23-19, but Bentley was able to finish off the second set with two consecutive points.
- The teams once again traded points to start the third set until the score was tied at 10-10. Two kills each by Frano and Lacerda along with five attacking errors committed by the Falcons helped the Hawks stay even with the conference's first place team.
- Bentley then generated a 10-5 scoring run to put the score at 20-15. Five different players registered a kill in that span for the Falcons.
- Once again, Saint Anselm fought back with a 5-1 scoring stretch of their own to cut the lead to just 21-20. A service ace from graduate student Jada Burdier (Haverhill, Mass.) helped energize the Hawks during the run.
- The home team eventually took the lead and earned their first set point of the match after taking four of the next six points thanks to three combined kills from Frano and Kocak.
- However, Bentley showed their mettle with their backs against the wall and closed out the set with three straight points to win it 26-24 and take the match in straight sets.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Frano and Lacerda led the offensive attack for Saint Anselm. Frano finished with 12 kills, a service ace and a block, while Lacerda tallied eight kills, a block-assist, and four digs.
- Defensively, Burke led the way and recorded 16 digs, two assists, and a service ace. Macalaguim followed suit with 10 digs of her own to go alongside a match-high 24 assists, a team-high two aces, and a kill.
- As a team, Saint Anselm finished the match with 29 kills, 50 digs, and five service aces.
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