NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Saint Anselm College women's volleyball team rounded out its regular season slate on Friday, falling in a Northeast 10 Conference clash against Southern Connecticut State University in four sets at Pelz Gym.
Southern Connecticut State 3, Saint Anselm 1 (18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 16-25)
Highlights
- The Hawks are now 15-16 all-time against Southern Connecticut State.
- Freshman Peyton Elward registered nine kills on 16 errorless attempts to compile a .563 hitting percentage. She added three total blocks and a dig.
- Junior Hollyn Frano posted 10 kills at a .280 clip, also pitching in seven digs on the defensive end.
- Sophomore Taylor Lacerda also posted 10 kills, with three digs to her credit.
- Freshman Mckenna O'Connell dished out 36 assists to go along with 15 digs for her 11th double-double of the season.
How it Happened
SET 1 | The opening set was highly contested in the early stages with six tie scores. Trailing 11-10, the Owls would put together a seven-point swing with a pair of aces from Kimberli Mitchell to take a 16-11 advantage. The Hawks whittled their deficit down to as little as four points on two occasions, but a strong finish to the set gave the home side a 1-0 lead.
SET 2 | Falling behind 6-3 early in the second, the Hawks put together a seven-point rally to gain a 10-6 edge. Elward posted two kills in that span, while junior
Sam Pila capped off the run with a service ace. Saint Anselm's lead grew to as large as seven points on back-to-back kills from Frano and Lacerda
, which made it 19-12. SCSU made a late push, but the Hawks fended it off as Frano and freshman
Etta Rocco posted consecutive kills to round out the frame, tying the match at 1-1.
SET 3 | Southern Connecticut State hopped out to an 8-2 lead in the third. After trailing by seven, Saint Anselm used a five-point swing to trail by just two, 12-10. The two sides traded the next eight points before an attack error by the Owls made it a one-point score. The remainder of the set was back-and-forth, with neither side able to gain a true edge until a three-point rally from the Owls made it 24-19 late. Sydney Bennett capped off the set with a kill for SCSU to give the hosts a 2-1 match lead.
SET 4 | Saint Anselm used a five-point swing early in the fourth to take their first lead of the game, 8-7. The Hawks would grow their lead to as many as five points, 14-9, before the Owls would produce a 16-2 run to close out the set, earning the victory in their final match of the regular season.
Up Next
The Hawks have qualified for postseason play for the first time under second-year head coach
Anna Platek and await the final day of the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 15, to learn the seeding structure of the NE10 Championship.
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