Women's Volleyball Splits Tri-Match With Win vs. Colby-Sawyer, Loss to Bates

NEW LONDON, N.H. – Emmanuel women's volleyball split a tri-match Saturday with Colby-Sawyer and Bates, but the critical Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory fell in favor of the Saints, who defeated the Chargers 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-14), before falling to Bates in non-conference play in straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-14) at the Hogan Sports Arena.

Match 1: Emmanuel 3 – Colby-Sawyer 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-14)

The Saints opened up an early lead on the Chargers in the opening set, winning nine of the first 11 points of the match. That momentum continued for Emmanuel, as another scoring run, this time of 10-4, gave the Saints their largest lead at 19-6. Colby-Sawyer chopped into the deficit, closing within six points, but the final four points broke for Emmanuel in a 25-15 set win.

In the second set, the Saints were again out in front early with a 7-2 advantage. The Chargers responded with eight of the next 12 points, closing to within one at 11-10. The two sides traded small scoring runs down to a 17-17 tie, but an EC 6-1 spurt pushed them ahead in the middle set. Colby-Sawyer answered to trail 23-20, but a pair of Chargers errors would cost them the set, 25-20.

Another early Saints lead broke out in the final set with Emmanuel scoring six of the first seven points. Again, the Chargers responded to close within one, but the Saints were waiting with an 8-3 span to take control of the set at 17-11. The Saints broke free in the final frame with a 6-0 run to close out the match, including a three-point kill streak for sophomore Isabella Marquez (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), helping EC to a 25-14 win.

Marquez led the match with 10 kills to go along with 11 digs. Sophomore Wiktoria Galazyn (Plainville, Conn.) and first-year Kason Huynh (Mission Viejo, Calif.) each added eight kills in the win. Galazyn chipped in a match-high three aces while Huynh had a dozen assists.

Chargers junior Katie Mollberg (Naples, Fla.) had a team-high six kills in the loss. Junior Ally Majenski (Marshfield, Mass.) and first-year Delaney Skourtis (Tilton, N.H.) finished with five kills each.

Match 2: Bates 3 – Emmanuel 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-14)

In the first set, a 6-0 run by Bates in the middle of the set helped them to the opening set victory. The six-point string increased the Bates edge from three points to nine at 16-7. The Saints battled back to close within four, including an 8-2 run late in the action, but the Bobcats lead was too much to overcome in a 25-20 Bates win.

Bates opened the second set winning 13 of the opening 15 points to sprint out to a 13-2 edge. But despite the quick start, another Saints run was standing by, this time of 6-0, in the middle of the set, cut the Bobcats advantage down to 17-14. The Bobcats broke the EC momentum, scoring six of the next seven points to reestablish a sizeable advantage, on the way to a 25-18 win.

In the final set of the afternoon for Emmanuel, the Saints held on throughout the third, staying within striking distance of the Bobcats for much of the play. But Bates, leading 16-14 shutout the Saints from that point, going on a 9-0 run to win the set, sweeping the Saints in straight sets.

Sophomore Ami Evans (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with a match-high nine kills. Junior Chrissy Chu (Old Tappan, N.J.) chipped in with match-highs of 20 assists and 13 digs.

Marquez finished with a team-high six kills to go with eight digs. Junior Paula Tanguilig (Sandwich, Mass.) had a team-high 11 digs in the loss.

The Saints (13-8, 8-4 GNAC) head to Lesley for a doubleheader on Oct. 26, starting at 7:00 p.m. The Chargers (5-19, 3-7 GNAC) host Rivier on Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m., wrapping up a four-match homestand. The Bobcats (6-14, 1-7 NESCAC) travel to Amherst on Oct. 27 for a 7:00 p.m. conference match.