NEW LONDON, Conn. – Suffolk volleyball secured its first victory of the 2021 season in straight set fashion as the Rams blanked Husson in the first outing of a tri-match Saturday afternoon at the Yarnell Athletic Center.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Husson 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1) | Husson (2-1)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk picked up the back-and-forth action in the first and third frames, respectively, and handled things easily in the middle set to secure the sweep.  

SET ONE RECAP (25-19, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk's early 4-0 edge was short lived as the Eagles stormed back with six unanswered points to go ahead 7-5. 
• Husson remained in front until Alina Nowakowski got on the service line, tied the set with an ace and gave the Rams the go ahead with another. The freshman's serve sparked a 5-1 rally that put the blue-and-gold in front, 15-12. 
• That lead remained intact and blossomed to 22-18, which forced to take a timeout. 
• Out of the huddle, the Rams did not let up, outscored the Eagles, 3-1, to lock up the set.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-15, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk leaped out to a 10-1 advantage. In that stretch included kills from five kills and four service aces. 
• From there the Rams put on cruise control to easily lock up the second set. 

SET THREE RECAP (25-23, SUFFOLK)

• The set locked up 11 times before either team took the lead. 
• Emily Wheeler's kill sparked a 3-0 stretch for Suffolk that gave the blue-and-gold the lead, 23-20. 
• The Eagles scored back-to-back, but the teams traded points the rest of the way, which allowed the Rams to walk away with things. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• McKenna Keowen and Jasmine James each supplied eight kills to a 32-kills offense, which also saw six kills from Wheeler. 
• Harmony Johnson set-up the attack with 16 assists to go along with three aces and three digs. 
• Jayla Martinez added seven assists and two digs. 
• Keowen chipped in eight digs to the defensive effort. 
• As a unit, Suffolk served 17 aces, Keowen paced the pack with six, while Nowakowski served four. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk remains unbeaten all-time versus Husson, 3-0-0.
• All of the Rams wins over the Eagles came in straight sets. 
• Suffolk and Husson have only met on a neutral site court. 
• The blue-and-gold's 17 aces are the most for Suffolk since registering 18 against Maine Presqule Isle Aug. 30, 2019. 

POST-MATCH PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk wraps up its first tri-match this afternoon against Albertus Magnus.