Saints and Seahawks go the distance

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team earned a 3-2 (19-25, 26-24, 30-28, 11-25, 15-6) victory over Salve Regina University on Thursday evening in non-conference action at the Jean Yawkey Center. The win lifts the Saints to 11-14 overall while the loss drops the Seahawks to 11-16. Prior to the start of the match, the Emmanuel Athletic Department honored the four senior members from this year's squad.

Salve jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-19 win in set one as junior outside hitter Kat Mendes (New Bedford, Mass.) led the way with three kills in the frame.

Emmanuel fought back to take set two in extra points, 26-24 to even the match at 1-1. The Seahawks were ahead 24-22 before Emmanuel was able to even the score at 24-all with a kill by senior middle hitter Brittany Tutalo (Johnston, R.I.). Consecutive hitting errors for the visitors gave the hosts the set and the momentum heading into the third stanza.

In set three, the Saints led by as many as four points, going ahead 19-15 late in the action before the Seahawks answered. With the score tied at 28-28, a service ace by EC junior libero Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) and another attacking error by Salve lifted the Saints to a 30-28 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Seahawks didn't let that stop them as the visitors cruised to a 25-11 win in set four to send the match to a deciding fifth set. During the frame, Salve hit a monstrous .314 as a team as freshman right side Cassidy Trablicy (Phoenix, Ariz.) put home five kills while also combining with senior middle Emily Pipinski (Hampden, Mass.) for four block assists at the net.

The Saints had a short memory and came out on fire in the fifth frame, jumping ahead to an 8-2 lead following an ace by Tutalo. Salve was never able to recover as the hosts pushed on to a 15-6 win in the set for a 3-2 victory on the night.

EC junior middle Katelyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) led the Saints with 13 kills while Tutalo and freshman outside hitter Mary Shelow (Miami, Fla.) chipped in with eight kills each. Senior setter Shannon Dudley (Morrow Bay, Calif.) dished out a season-high 40 assists to go along with 16 digs.  Schemerhorn ended the night with a team-high 20 digs while junior outside hitter Cassie Chruscielski(Duluth, Minn.) contributed 17 digs and five kills.

Four players recorded double-digit kill totals for Salve with Trablicy leading the way with 15 followed by 13 from sophomore middle Samantha Higgins (Coventry, R.I.). Lipinski and senior Mackenzie Donald (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) added 10 kills each. Defensively, senior libero Chrissy Fraga (Milford, Mass.) was incredible with 30 digs while Mendes added 20 digs and seven kills. Freshman setter Erin Proctor (Canton, Mass.) also put on an impressive show running the offensive unit with a match-high 51 assists.

Along with Dudley and Tutalo, the Saints recognized seniors Danielle Rose (Wilkes Barre, Pa.) and Quincie Varin (Coventry, R.I.) before the match.

The Saints head to Nashua, N.H. for their final regular season match on Saturday, Oct. 31 when they face Rivier University at 1:00 PM. Salve Regina wraps the regular season with the loss and will await pairings for the CCC tournament.