Women’s Volleyball Loses 3-1 Decision to Regional Power Saint Anselm

COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team took the third set from perennial regional power Saint Anselm College during a 3-1 (25-19, 25-9, 19-25, 25-9) loss on Wednesday in Northeast-10 Conference play at the Ross Sports Center. The Hawks qualified for the past three NCAA Tournaments, finishing as a 2019 NCAA East Regional Championship semifinalist.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (1-7, 0-4 NE10), Saint Anselm (12-5, 2-2 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• Sophomore Caitlin O’Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 7 kills
• Senior Abby Gallagher (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake Regional), 6 kills, 10 digs
• Junior Caroline Curley (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), 6 kills, .385 hitting, 2 blocks
• First-year Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 21 assists, 12 digs, 2 blocks
• First-year Aaliyah Huihui-Martinez (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame), 9 digs
• First-year Syrah Wright (Richmond, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union), 7 digs
• Junior Maddie Van Winkle (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic), 5 digs, 2 aces
• Junior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 4 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• First-year Gabby Belcher, 11 kills
• Junior Lois Dogbe, 9 kills, .571 hitting, 3 blocks
• Junior Michelle Henwood, 40 assists, 10 digs, 6 aces
• Junior Caroline Belmontez, 16 digs
• Sophomore Alina Barbarena, 10 digs, 4 aces

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights posted a season-high seven blocks to the Hawks’ five.
• Saint Michael’s held Saint Anselm to .045 hitting in the third set, the Hawks’ fourth-lowest attack percentage in 53 sets this season.

THE ACTION

• Syverson’s kill gave the Purple Knights a 2-1 edge in the opening set before Dogbe had a kill and a block in a 5-0 response. Back-to-back Curley kills later trimmed the deficit to 7-5, and the hosts remained within six points until Henwood’s kill made it 19-12, and an error put the Hawks up 21-13. During her college debut, first-year Jillian Orth (Bourne, Mass./Bourne) dropped an ace amid a 3-0 run that cut the hole to five, and O’Connor, her former high school teammate, downed a kill to make it 22-18. However, Dogbe notched two kills in a clinching 3-1 run.
• Belcher’s two kills helped Saint Anselm forge a 5-1 lead in set No. 2 before Van Winkle’s ace produced a 6-4 score. However, another kill from Belcher sparked a 19-5 run that ended the set.
• Consecutive Gallagher kills keyed a 6-0 run that put the hosts up 6-1 in the third set, and…