Women’s Volleyball Opens NE10 Play with Loss at Franklin Pierce

RINDGE, N.H. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team opened Northeast-10 Conference play with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-17) loss to Franklin Pierce University in the FPU Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (1-3, 0-1 NE10), Franklin Pierce (6-4, 1-0 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• Senior Abby Gallagher (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake Regional), 6 kills, 3 digs
• Junior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 5 kills, .333 hitting, 2 blocks
• Junior Brigid Heinrich (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill), 4 kills
• First-year Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 3 kills, .375 hitting, 15 assists, 4 digs
• Junior Caroline Curley (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), 3 kills, .333 hitting, 3 digs
• First-year Syrah Wright (Richmond, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union), 2 aces, 17 digs
• Senior Jaeden Cruz (Makakilo, Hawaii/Saint Francis School), 3 assists, 5 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Mariah Robles, 14 kills, .737 hitting, 4 digs
• Junior Tessa Brandt, 8 kills, 6 digs
• Senior Kennedy Garnhart, 15 assists, 4 digs
• Sophomore Maddie Ward, 13 assists
• Sophomore Morgan Schmutzler, 8 assists, 19 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The teams played through five ties in both the second and third sets.

THE ACTION

• Franklin Pierce scored the first seven points of the match and led 9-1 before the Purple Knights crept within 11-5 on Heinrich’s kill. Ten of the next 11 points went to the hosts before sophomore Haley Stanton (Nashua, N.H./Nashua North) dropped a kill to spark a 3-0 spurt. The Ravens netted the final four points.
• Saint Michael’s twice led by as many as three points early in the second set, including at 7-4 on a Gallagher kill. With the Purple and Gold still leading 10-9, Franklin Pierce rattled off four straight points, kicking off a clinching 16-5 run.
• Two kills from Gallagher and one apiece by Curley, Heinrich and Syverson helped the Purple Knights forge a 7-4 lead in set No. 3. The teams swapped 3-0 spurts before Saint Michael’s still led 16-14 on sophomore Caitlin O’Connor‘s (Bourne, Mass./Bourne) kill and 17-16 on a Syverson kill. However, the hosts scored the final nine points of the match.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S MATCH

• Saturday at Assumption University, 1 p.m.