Women’s Volleyball Downed by Middlebury During Road Affair

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team lost to Middlebury College, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-20), on Tuesday evening in Pepin Gymnasium.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (1-5), Middlebury (2-2)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• Sophomore Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 10 kills, 5 digs
• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 5 kills, 2 blocks, .500 hitting
• First-year Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 5 kills, 4 digs
• Senior Caitlin O’Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 4 kills, 2 blocks
• Junior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 24 assists, 8 digs, 3 kills
• First-year Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 14 digs, 3 assists
• First-year Katarina Mladenovic (Chicago, Ill./Maine South), 6 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Sophomore Ava Tuccio, 8 kills, 4 blocks
• Junior Stephanie Mayer, 7 kills, .455 hitting
• First-year Molly Harrison, 7 kills, .583 hitting
• Junior Gabbie O’Toole, 26 assists, 9 digs, 3 aces, 3 blocks

THE ACTION

• O’Toole dropped aces for the first two points of the match before Tuccio followed with a block and back-to-back kills to make it 5-0 in the opening set, and Middlebury never again led by fewer than four points.
• O’Toole had another ace and Tuccio an additional kill as the Panthers also nabbed a 5-0 lead in the second set, but a late 3-0 run, keyed by kills from Almeida and Patterson, brought Saint Michael’s within 22-21. The hosts finished the set with the final three points.
• Patterson’s pair of kills sparked a 4-1 start to set No. 3 for the visitors before Middlebury countered with a 12-2 run to lead by a 13-6 count. Patterson dropped two kills in a 7-2 response, and Saint Michael’s was still within 22-20 following a Panther error. However, O’Toole countered with a kill as her team notched the final three points.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S MATCH

• Sept. 22 at Bates College, 6 p.m.