Women’s Volleyball Drops 3-1 Decision at Plymouth State

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team lost to Plymouth State University, 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-17), on Saturday in Foley Gymnasium. The Panthers were Little East Conference Tournament runners-up last season.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (1-4), Plymouth State (4-2)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• Sophomore Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 16 kills, 18 digs, 3 aces
• Junior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 32 assists, 20 digs
• First-year Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 20 digs, 6 assists, 4 aces
• Senior Caitlin O’Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 8 kills, 2 blocks
• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 8 kills, 2 blocks
• First-year Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 5 kills, 6 digs, 3 blocks
• Junior Jillian Orth (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 9 digs, 4 aces

OPPONENT LEADERS

• First-year Emma Hampton, 10 kills, 18 digs
• Sophomore Riley McDonough, 15 assists
• Sophomore Kalista Butler, 13 assists, 8 digs
• Junior Lilli Stogner, 14 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights held leads in kills (43-40) and aces (13-10) while being trimmed in blocks (6.0-5.0). Both teams registered 84 digs.

THE ACTION

• Two aces and a kill from Patterson keyed a 6-1 run during the opening set, giving the visitors a 14-11 lead, but five errors helped Plymouth State accumulate an 8-1 stretch that made it 22-17. Two Farnan aces came amid a 4-0 run that brought Saint Michael’s within 22-21, but the visitors came no closer.
• Consecutive Orth aces produced a 21-18 lead for the Purple Knights in set No. 2 before the Panthers countered with a go-ahead 4-0 stretch. O’Connor’s tying kill was followed by first-year Katarina Mladenovic‘s (Chicago, Ill./Maine South) ace, but the hosts netted the final three points.
• Plymouth State went on a tying 8-3 run to erase a 15-10 deficit in the third set, but Almeida, O’Connor, Patterson and junior Shannon Jordan (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) all dropped kills in a clinching 7-2 jaunt.
• Patterson’s ace gave Saint Michael’s a 3-2 edge in the fourth set before the Panthers countered with a 9-1 run and never again led by fewer than four points.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S MATCH

• Sunday vs. Dawson (Quebec) College, 1 p.m. exhibition match.
• The Purple Knights will hold a Morgan’s Message Match in support of mental health and National Suicide Prevention Week/Month.