Posted: Aug 30, 2019
BABSON PARK, MASS. – Suffolk volleyball opened its 2019 season in the win column as the Rams swept Maine Presque Isle in the opening match of the Babson Invitational at Staake Gymnasium Friday night.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Maine Presque Isle 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-0) | Maine Presque Isle 0
SET ONE RECAP (25-18, SUFFOLK)
- The first set was the most competitive with six ties and a trio of lead exchanges.
- At the midway point, Suffolk trailed by three, 8-5.
- The Rams rallied though with three straight points to level the playing field at 8-all.
- From there, a 4-0 Rams' run put Suffolk in front, 14-10.
- The four-point cushion proved to be enough for the blue-and-gold as the teams traded points the remainder of the way.
SET TWO RECAP (25-10, SUFFOLK)
- Suffolk jumped ahead to an early 4-0 lead that blossomed to a 21-4 advantage behind a 14-0 stretch.
- UMPI made moves to chip away at the deficit, but the Rams handled things to jump ahead 2-0 in the match.
SET THREE RECAP (25-16, SUFFOLK)
- The Rams trailed 6-4 in the initial action of the third stanza.
- A 9-1 stretch from Suffolk turned the tides in the blue-and-gold's favor, 13-7.
- The Owls used a timeout to break up the stretch, but out the break Suffolk strung together a 4-1 stretch to go ahead 17-8.
- Things got interesting after UMPI rallied off a 6-1 to trim the margin down to 18-14.
- Suffolk outscored the Owls 7-2 the rest of the way to secure the set and the match.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Suffolk's upperclassmen anchored the Rams' 34-kill offense.
- Sarah Mullahy led the way with nine kills, while Kayla Barbera and Kaleigh Khanna each supplied seven kills.
- Barbera contributed to the defensive effort as well with nine kills to go along with three aces.
- Emerson Martin registered five kills and three digs.
- Harmony Johnson set up the offense with 23 assists. She pitched in three digs, two aces and two kills.
- Kenzley Bell added 15 digs, six aces, and four handouts.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk won its season opener for the first time since 2017.
- The season debut win marks the first in the Scott Blanchard era.
- The Rams improved to 8-13 on day one of the year.
- Suffolk improved to 3-3 when playing on a neutral playing field in the initial outing of the year.
- Suffolk and UMaine Presque met for the second time in the Rams' season opener.
- The blue-and-gold is 2-0 versus UMPI all-time and on day one of the year.
- Suffolk put together a sweep in the first contest of the year since 2016.
- Michelle Lo, Jordan Smith, Christina Hickey, Kenzley Bell, Emerson Martin, Monica Bolduk, Harmony Johnson and Chryssabella Jones-Craig all made their Suffolk debuts.
- Khanna recorded a new career high seven kills.
POST-MATCH PIC
WHAT'S AHEAD?
Suffolk continues action at the Babson Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 31 when it faces Manhattanville (12 p.m.) and No. 20 Babson (2 p.m.)