CZERCOWY LEADS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL OVER SIMMONS, 3-1

BOSTON, Mass. – First year outside hitter Angelica Czercowy (Hebron, Conn.) put down 10 kills and registered six block assists to lead the Emmanuel College women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 28-26, 25-17) victory over host Simmons College this evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Saints improve to 7-14 overall and 5-2 in league play, while the Sharks fall to 9-12 and 6-3.

Emmanuel dropped the opening set, but came back to win the final three frames with an outstanding defensive effort at the net.

Czercowy hit .217 for the match and added seven digs, while junior outside hitter Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) swung for a team-high 11 kills to go with eight digs, two block assists and an ace. Senior middle hitter Brittany Tutalo (Johnston, R.I.) contributed with six kills, six block assists and an ace and senior setter Shannon Dudley (Morro Bay, Calif.) put up 31 assists in addition to nine digs, three kills and a pair of total blocks. First year outside hitter Casey Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) got down for 12 digs to lead the squad.

Senior right side hitter Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, Mass.) found her spots all night for Simmons, hitting .455, while registering a season-high 13 kills, three digs and a block assist. Junior outside hitter Cailin Fredrickson (Columbia, Md.) smacked 14 kills, picked up eight digs and got up for two block assists. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Woodward (Deerfield, Mass.) was the third Shark with double-digit kills with 11. Junior Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) directed the action with 41 assists and also scooped up four digs and fired three aces. Junior libero Kat Guillotte (New Bedford, Mass.) recorded a career-high 24 digs.

Simmons opened the match by hitting a torrid .519 in the first set, while committing just three attack errors. The Saints took an early 8-5 lead, but the Sharks went on a blistering 14-2 run, ignited by seven unanswered points. Alberghini tallied four kills and sophomore middle blocker Amber Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev.) fired three aces during the stretch to give the home team a 19-10 cushion. Simmons maintained the lead until it took the set, 25-15.

The second set saw 11 ties and seven lead changes and no team led by more than three points. The Sharks took their largest lead of the frame at 7-4, following a kill from Alberghini, but Emmanuel scored the next four points to take an 8-7 edge for the first lead change of the set. Simmons later took a 19-17 margin following a kill from Woodward, before the Saints ripped off four straight points, including a pair of kills from Chruscielski, to take the lead for good at 21-19.

Emmanuel led for the first half of the third set and owned an 11-9 margin, before the Sharks pulled ahead with five unanswered points, including three aces from Duke, to take a 14-11 lead. Simmons led for most of the rest of the frame and owned a 24-22 lead, but the Saints scored a pair of points to knot the set at 24-24. The Sharks looked to take the set at 26-25, but Emmanuel scored the final three points, including a kill from Czercowy to give the Saints a 28-26 set win.

Simmons owned an early 5-4 lead in the fourth set, but Emmanuel scored seven of the next eight points to take an 11-6 lead. The Sharks pulled to within 12-11 on Peterson's serve, but would get no closer for the rest of the frame as the Saints pulled away for the set and match victory.

The Sharks return to action on Saturday, October 24 for a 12:00 p.m. tri-match with Anna Maria College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, while Emmanuel heads to Suffolk University on the same day for an 11:00 a.m. GNAC tri-match with the Rams and Albertus Magnus College.

*Release courtesy of Simmons College Sports Information