BOSTON – In its first home tri-match of the year, the Suffolk volleyball team fell victims to Plymouth State, 3-0, and Salem State, 3-1, at Regan Gymnasium Saturday.
Against Plymouth, Suffolk received a seven-kill effort from Jane Buckley with Liz Kerek (8 assists) and Talia Lombardo splitting the setting responsibilities. Lombardo contributed nine digs to the defensive effort with Heidy Barreiro's 10 leading the way.
Claire Sporer's 12-kill, 10-dig effort boosted Plymouth to victory.
With the first frame tied at 7-7, Plymouth rattled off six unanswered points to jump out to a 13-7 edge. The Rams used a timeout to gather composure, but were unable to overcome the six-point deficit as the Panthers maintained the lead to take the set, 25-15. Similar to the opening stanza, Suffolk fell behind 13-7 in the second. The Rams responded, however, as they used two 5-0 spurts to pull within two, 23-21. Out of a Plymouth timeout, the Panthers secured the set, 25-22. The final frame was tight in the beginning, before Plymouth burst out to a 19-10 advantage that blossomed to a 25-14 final for the match.
Plymouth sailed past Salem in straight sets (25-12, 25-20, 25-12) to leave Boston 15-5 overall. Sporer led the Panther's attack with 11 kills of a .346 hitting clip, while Brianna Wojtas chipped in nine with a .400 hitting percentage. Brenna Peruch anchored the defensive effort with 17 digs.
Emily Peay racked up 11 kills of her own for the Vikings and provided eight digs.
In the third match of the afternoon, Suffolk (4-15) trailed Salem (4-13) 2-0, forced a third set, but could not complete the comeback. Bridget Allison notched her first collegiate double-double with 10 kills, hitting .261, and 10 digs. Lombardo was on the cusp of recording a triple-double as the freshman turned in 14 assists, nine digs and eight kills of a .353 hitting clip.
Salem received 15 kills from Peay and Allison Vellucci. Peay tallied 11 digs for a double-double of her own.
The Vikings stormed out to back-to-back victories, 25-15 and 25-17, and jumped out to 17-13 lead in the third frame. The Rams did not go down without a fight as they put together four unanswered points to even the set, 17-17. Salem went ahead by three, but it was Suffolk that to control the rest of the way, scoring eight of the next 11 points to take the set, 25-23, and force a fourth. The final frame was all Salem as a 12-9 advantage blossomed to a 25-12 set and match.
Suffolk continues its homestand Tuesday, Oct. 13 when it welcomes Pine Manor to Regan. Salem and is also in action Tuesday night when it entertains Mass Maritime while Plymouth returns to action Wednesday versus Keene State.