Women’s Volleyball Loses 3-1 Decision to Southern Connecticut State

COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team lost to Southern Connecticut State University, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-17, 25-21), on Friday evening during Northeast-10 Conference play in the Ross Sports Center.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (1-19, 0-11 NE10), Southern Connecticut State (16-13, 5-6 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• Junior Caitlin O’Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 8 kills
• Junior Haley Stanton (Nashua, N.H./Nashua North), 6 kills in 2 sets
• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 5 kills, 6 blocks, 4 digs
• First-year Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 5 kills, 2 blocks
• Senior Caroline Curley (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), 4 kills, 2 blocks
• Sophomore Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 24 assists, 21 digs, 6 kills
• Sophomore Syrah Wright (Richmond, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union), 18 digs, 4 assists, 4 aces
• First-year Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 9 digs, 4 aces
• Senior Maddie Van Winkle (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic), 17 digs
• Sophomore Aaliyah Huihui-Martinez (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame), 8 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Gabriela Gaibur, 15 kills, 11 digs
• Junior Kacey Deecher, 12 kills, 3 aces, .345 hitting
• Graduate student Heliceliz Rivera, 24 assists, 11 digs
• Junior Taylor Jones, 17 assists
• Junior Sara Enright, 24 digs
• First-year Aubrey Villena, 24 digs

MATCH FACTS

• Saint Michael’s held a 9-5 lead in blocks, while both teams notched 82 digs.

THE ACTION

• Gaibur’s kill had the Owls up 8-3 in the opening set before the Purple Knights tied it at 9-9 on Wright’s ace and used a 6-2 run to nab an 18-14 edge. Welch had a kill and a block in that time. Welch’s kill still had Saint Michael’s up 22-20 before the visitors scored the final five points.
• Southern Connecticut State led 7-3 in the second set before Wright downed back-to-back aces to cap a 5-0 run that gave her team a 13-11 edge. After the teams were deadlocked at 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16 and 17-17, Syverson turned in consecutive solo blocks to spark a 3-0 run that gave Saint Michael’s the lead for good. In a 22-20 set, Syverson dropped a kill before Curley and O’Connor followed suit.
• O’Connor’s kill produced a 9-9 tie in set No. 3, but Enright had two kills in a 5-0 run, which led to a larger 14-3 stretch that gave the Owls a 23-12 lead. Saint Michael’s scored five of the next six points, but the visitors took a 2-1…