BOSTON – For the first time this season, the Suffolk volleyball team put together a straight set victory as the Rams swept Pine Manor Tuesday night inside Regan Gymnasium. Suffolk pushed its win streak to four thanks to set scores 25-17, 25-17 and 25-18.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3, Pine Manor 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-3) | Pine Manor (3-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk put up identical 25-17 wins in the first and second frames, respectively, and almost matched that in the third set with a 25-18 victory to seal up the sweep.
SET ONE RECAP (25-17, SUFFOLK)
- Suffolk grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in which it maintained at 6-3.
- Five unanswered points by the Rams pushed their edge to 10-3.
- The Gators closed the margin to two, 12-10.
- Out of a Suffolk timeout, the hosts reclaimed a five-point cushion, 19-14, thanks to an ace from Hannah Fabiano.
- Suffolk put on cruise control from there and locked up the set, 25-17.
SET TWO RECAP (25-17, SUFFOLK)
- Similar to the first frame, the Rams rattled off the first three points.
- Pine Manor kept things close, 9-6, before a Suffolk spurt of six consecutive points made it a 15-6 blue-and-gold set.
- The Gators took a timeout and gained their composure, scoring the next three points including back-to-back blocks by Altimisa Cardoso and Viyanni Johnson to trim the deficit to 15-9.
- Suffolk kept the visitors at bay, regaining its nine-point lead that blossomed into a 22-11 advantage.
- Refusing to go down without a fight, Pine Manor clawed back with a 4-0 stretch to chip away at Suffolk's lead, 22-14.
- The distance was too great, however, as each team turned in three more points the rest of the way for the 25-17 margin.
SET THREE RECAP (25-18, SUFFOLK)
- A tightly contest opened was present as Pine Manor took its first lead of the night within the first three points.
- The stanza equalized four times before Suffolk used a 5-0 spurt capped off by an ace from Meg Kerek to go ahead 10-5.
- The Rams kept the Gators at bay from there and rolled to its 25-18 set win.
STATISTCALLY SPEAKING
- Talia Lombardo was the main ingredient on each side of the net for the blue-and-gold. The sophomore produced a 10-kill, 10-dig double-double effort with seven assists and four aces.
- Liz Kerek, who set up the majority of Suffolk's attack with 12 handouts, registered six kills and two digs.
- Bridget Allison produced five kills while Kayla Barbera and Fabiano each had four kills to their credit.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk stretched its win streak to four contests, matching the longest consecutive wins since rattling off four victories Sept. 24-Oct. 3, 2016.
- The Rams won their eighth straight outing against the Gators, improving to 11-2 in the all-time series since 2003.
- The blue-and-gold remain unbeaten versus Pine Manor with Ducharme at the helm of the program.
- Tonight's contest marked the sixth straight set decision with Suffolk owning a 5-1 record in such matches.
- Lombardo locked up her first double-double effort of the season and seventh of her career.
POST-MATCH PIC
COMING UP
After a day of rest, Suffolk hits the road to visit Gordon Thursday, Sept. 21. First serve in Wenham, Massachusetts, is set for 7 p.m.