Posted: Oct 05, 2019
NEW LONDON, N.H. – Suffolk volleyball came back from a 2-1 deficit, capturing the fourth and fifth set to down Emmanuel in a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon at Colby Sawyer's Hogan Sports Center. The GNAC victory came via set scores 27-29, 26-24, 15-25, 25-14 and 15-5.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Emmanuel 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (13-5, 4-0 GNAC) | Emmanuel (5-11, 1-2 GNAC)
SET ONE RECAP (29-27, EMMANUEL)
- Suffolk leaped out to a 7-1 advantage with the opening eight points featuring two aces from Emerson Martin and Hannah Fabiano's first of five first frame kills.
- The Saints slowly chipped away at the Rams' advantage before using an 8-3 to level the playing field at 14-all.
- Suffolk managed hold onto a slim edge until the Saints scored five unanswered points to go ahead, 20-19.
- It was a see-saw affair from there with four ties and a pair of lead swaps. The final switch fell in Emmanuel's favor, 25-24.
- With set point looming, the teams went point-for-point until the Saints managed to score back-to-back to secure the set 29-27.
SET TWO RECAP (26-24, SUFFOLK)
- Suffolk, who trailed by as many as four early on, climbed back to even the score at 7-all.
- The high intensity back-and-forth stanza stayed true for the majority of the action before Rams' rookies Harmony Johnson and Kenzley Bell recorded an ace and kill, respectively, to give the visitors a 14-12 edge.
- Emmanuel used a timeout to stymie Suffolk and it worked as thing locked up again, for the ninth time, at 17-17 before the Saints went up by one, 18-17.
- Suffolk used its own huddle as momentum, scoring three straight out of its huddle to grab a 25-24 advantage.
- The Saints used their second time out of the set to slow the Rams down, but an Emmanuel error on the next point played in the blue-and-gold's favor to even the match's score at one-set apiece.
SET THREE RECAP (25-15, EMMANUEL)
- Emmanuel's 13-7 cushion blossomed into a 19-12 advantage, which forced a Suffolk timeout.
- The Rams never found their grove, however, and the Saints managed to take the frame by a double-digit distance, 25-15.
SET FOUR RECAP (25-14, SUFFOLK)
- With the playing field knotted a 3-3, Suffolk scored five straight to gain an 8-3 advantage that turned into a lopsided 16-9 Rams' lead.
- The blue-and-gold put the stanza out of reach behind another 5-0 run that made it a 22-11 Suffolk set.
- After Emmanuel put up back-to-back points, Bell rattled off three consecutive points for the Rams with one kill and two aces to force the fifth frame.
SET FIVE RECAP (15-5, SUFFOLK)
- Suffolk grabbed a 4-0 lead that grew to an 8-2 set when the teams traded sides of the net.
- The Rams easily maintained their margin to seal the deal in their favor.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Fabiano led the way on both sides of the net with a double-double effort of 22 kills and 14 digs with one ace to her credit.
- Bell was also a contributor offensively and defensively with 19 digs, eight kills, seven assists, three aces and one block.
- Johnson set up Suffolk's 50-kill offense with 37 handouts to go along with eight dights, four aces and two blocks.
- Sarah Mullahy chipped in eight digs, three digs and three blocks.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk rattled off its third straight victory over Emmanuel to move to 3-15 all-time against the Saints.
- The Rams improved to 4-0 in GNAC action, their best start to the conference calendar since match that number to begin the 2005 league ledger.
- The victory marks Suffolk's fourth straight, the longest win streak in the Scott Blanchard era. The last time the Rams won four matches in a row was Sept. 12-19, 2017.
- Fabiano notched a personal-best in kills (22).
- Fabiano produced her 11th collegiate double-double, third of the season.
- Jordan Smith had a personal-high in assists (1).
- Stephanie Rheaume had a career-high three digs.
POST-MATCH PIC
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk wraps up the GNAC tri-match this afternoon against Colby Sawyer.