Posted: Sep 28, 2019
BOSTON – Suffolk volleyball capped its Lace Up for Pediatric Cancer event in dynamic fashion with a five-set victory over Western New England Saturday afternoon. The 3-2 decision came via set scores 17-25, 25-18, 25-18, 14-25 and 15-13 at the Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Western New England 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-5) | Western New England (7-10)
SET ONE RECAP (25-17, WESTERN NEW ENGLAND)
- Both teams would go back-and-forth in the opening stages with the margin rarely raising more than a pair.
- Western New England would sperate itself to a four-point lead, 12-8, which forced Scott Blanchard's hand into take a timeout.
- Suffolk responded to narrow the distance back to two, however, but it would not stay there for long as the Golden Bears brought their lead to six, 21-15.
- From there, Western New England outscored Suffolk, 4-2, to take the frame.
SET TWO RECAP (25-18, SUFFOLK)
- A strong start put WNE ahead early, 9-4.
- Sarah Mullahy's kill jump started a Rams' run. The senior kept the 5-0 stretch going from the service line to level the playing field at 9-all.
- The momentum continued to play in the hosts favor and the Rams gained an 11-10 lead.
- A heated see-saw battle hung around and with the score at 15-each, Suffolk put together a 10-3 spurt to capture the second stanza, 25-18, and even the match at 1 apiece.
SET THREE RECAP (25-18, SUFFOLK)
- Out of a 10-10 tie, the Rams rattled off seven unanswered points, which included a pair of aces by Hannah Fabiano, to go ahead 17-10.
- The blue-and-gold kept its foot on the gas to take the 2-1 advantage on the afternoon, with the third set finish in the host's favor, 25-18.
SET FOUR RECAP (25-14, WESTERN NEW ENGLAND)
- Two Taylor Deluga service aces put Western New England on its way early, 7-0.
- Suffolk would work its way back into the set but couldn't chip away at the large deficit.
- WNE's cushion grow as high as 10 and ultimately the visitors forced a fifth behind a 25-14 fourth frame score.
SET FIVE RECAP (15-13, SUFFOLK)
- The opening four points would go to the Golden Bears, leading to an early Rams timeout.
- From the break, the Rams would use an 8-1 run to turn things around in their favor.
- The Golden Bears kept things interesting, making it one-point stanza, 9-8.
- Suffolk had other things in mind, however, and k ill by Sarah Mullahy regained a two-point cushion for the hosts at 11-8.
- The foes traded points behind errors from both the service line and attack, which set up match point for the Rams.
- WNE stayed alive after Cassandra Holmes sent a kill home, but Fabiano answered with a kill of her own to seal Suffolk's winning fate, which received a standing ovation from the crowd.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Fabiano provided on both sides of the net with double-double performance of a team-high 10 kills and 10 digs with three aces and a pair of blocks to her credit.
- Harmony Johnson had a double-double of her own with 27 assists and 10 digs. The Rams' rookie also chipped in two blocks, one ace and one kill.
- Kenzley Bell was second on the squad on the attack with nine kills to go along with eight digs and two aces.
- Defensively, Dakhensey Marcellusp aved the way with 24 digs.
- Kayla Barbera and Stephanie Rheaume notched identical stat lines of five kills and three blocks, respectively, with the former chipping in eight digs.
- Mullahy had an all-around outing with seven kills, three aces, three blocks and one dig.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk snapped a two-match skid against Western New England to move to 2-6 against the Golden Bears all-time.
- This was the first time a match went to five sets between the Rams and Golden Bears.
- Suffolk has won all four occasions this season when a match has gone five sets.
- The Rams are undefeated (8-0) on Saturdays in the month of September.
- Johnson recorded her second straight double-double and third of her collegiate career.
- Fabiano put together her 10th career double-double, second of the season and first since a 19-kill, 16-dig effort at Colby Sept. 7.
- Marcellus registered a season-high 24 digs.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk remains on the friendly confines of Smith Court Tuesday, Oct. 1 for a 7 p.m. non-conference clash against Becker.