Women’s Volleyball Hangs with Regional Power SNHU in 3-1 Defeat

COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team opened Northeast-10 Conference play by losing three two-point decisions to Southern New Hampshire University in a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 29-27, 30-28) setback on Tuesday evening in the Ross Sports Center. The Penmen won the 2022 NCAA East Regional Tournament to qualify for the national Elite 8.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (2-6, 0-1 NE10), Southern New Hampshire (6-7, 1-2 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 15 kills, 2 blocks, .577 hitting
• First-year Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 13 kills, 5 digs, 4 blocks, 2 aces, .360 hitting
• Sophomore Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 11 kills, 2 aces
• Sophomore Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 10 kills, 12 digs, 3 blocks
• Senior Caitlin O’Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 10 kills
• Junior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 47 assists, 21 digs, six kills, four aces
• First-year Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 19 digs, 9 assists, 2 aces
• First-year Katarina Mladenovic (Chicago, Ill./Maine South), 9 digs
• Junior Jillian Orth (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 7 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Redshirt senior Ana Pimenta, 12 kills, 13 digs, 6 blocks
• Graduate student Alessandra Peli, 11 kills, 8 blocks
• First-year Katalin Kovacs, 19 assists
• Sophomore Ella Koelb, 18 assists

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple and Gold held sizeable advantages in kills (66-49), assists (61-41), aces (12-7), digs (78-62) and points (84.0-69.0).
• Saint Michael’s had five players reach double figures in kills for the first time since Oct. 25, 2008, against The College of Saint Rose.
• Syverson’s hitting percentage was the highest by a Purple Knight since Allie Statile ’20 swung .650 on Sept. 13, 2019, against Salem (W.Va.) University, and the best in an NE10 affair since Lindsey Frazier ’11 hit .579 on Oct. 10, 2009, versus former league mate Stonehill College.
• The Purple Knights returned to action for the first time since Sept. 22.
• Saint Michael’s played its latest home opener since 1988 (Oct. 8).

THE ACTION

• Almeida’s kill and ace sparked a 4-0 run that gave the hosts a 7-3 lead in the opening set, and another kill by Almeida made it 14-12. The Penmen countered with the next three points, but the Purple Knights used a 4-0 stretch to lead 23-21, with Welch notching a pair of kills. However, the visitors scored the final four points.
• Báez Rentas started set No. 2…