SAINTS STIFLED BY COLONIALS, 3-0

BOSTON, Mass. – The Western Connecticut State University women's volleyball team downed host Emmanuel College, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-21), Tuesday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium in non-conference action. With the victory the Colonials improve to 3-1 on the year while the loss drops the Saints to 1-3.

EC jumped out to an early 4-1 lead following a kill by senior middle hitter Brittany Tutalo (Johnston, R.I.) but back-to-back kills by WCSU sophomore middle Brittany Steele (Massapequa, N.Y.) gave the Colonials their first lead of the action at 7-6. The squads traded points to an 11-11 tie before Western Connecticut took the lead for good in the frame on a kill by junior setter Danielle Kaminsky (Southington, Conn.) en route to the 25-19 win in set one. The visitors hit .273 during the set compared the Emmanuel's .179 clip.

In set two, Emmanuel raced ahead to another early lead as a Tutalo ace made it 6-2, but the lead was short lived as Western Connecticut rattled off five straight points to take a 7-6 lead. With the score locked at 10-all, a hitting miscue by the Saints gave the Colonials the lead for good as they held on for a 25-19 win in set two. Junior outside hitter Karissa Smith (Bristol, Conn.) converted five kills in the set to lift WCSU to a 2-0 lead in the match.

The theme continued in the third set as Emmanuel jumped out to a 3-0 lead following an ace by junior setter Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) but an ace junior outside hitter Cady Cordes (Fallon, Nev.) gave the Colonials their first lead of the set at 6-5. A Western hitting error lifted the hosts back on top 11-10 but the Saints gave it right back with a miscue of their own to even the match at 11-11. The Colonials rattled off three straight points capped by a duel block by Cordes and freshman middle Mikayla Aubry (Fresno, Calif.) to take a 14-11 lead and force EC to burn a timeout. The Saints regrouped to take a late lead, going ahead by as many as three at 20-17 before the Colonials closed out the set on a 8-1 run to win the set 25-21 and the match, 3-0.

Emmanuel junior outside hitter Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) led the way with a double-double of 13 kills and 15 digs. Rookie outside hitter Angelica Czercowy (Hebron, Conn.) posted eight kills in her home-debut.

Steele paced the Colonials with 11 kills and 10 digs. Smith added eight kills and 13 digs while Kaminsky chipped in with 24 assists.

The Saints return to action on Saturday, September 12 when they head to Ramapo College for a pair of matches between Cairn University at 1:00 PM and host Ramapo at 3:00 PM. Western heads to Providence, R.I. to compete in the Wildcat Invitational at Johnson & Wales University starting on Friday evening against Gustavus Adolphus at 5:00 PM.