
BOSTON – Suffolk volleyball reentered the win column for with a 3-1 Commonwealth Coast Conference triumph against Salve Regina Wednesday night at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The Rams victory, their first in five outings, came by set scores 25-23, 25-20, 21-25 and 25-22.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Salve Regina 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (13-9, 1-3 CCC) | Salve Regina (11-6, 3-1 CCC)
SET ONE RECAP (25-23, SUFFOLK)
- It was a back-and-forth opening as the score leveled seven times and the lead exchanged four, with the last coming at 9-8 in Salve Regina's favor.
- The Seahawks used a 5-1 rally to take the lead and build a three-point, 11-8 edge.
- That three-point margin remained until 14-11 when the Rams rallied back.
- An attack error by Lauren Hoyle preceded back-to-back blue-and-gold blocks. Alina Nowakowski factored into both as the sophomore teamed up with Jasmine James and McKenna Keowen to tied things up at 14.
- Things would stay even until the home stretch.
- From a 21-all set, Suffolk scored three in a row. That spurt featured a kill from James and a pair of aces by Morgan Kelsey to make it set point, 24-21.
- Salve Regina kept things interesting as it coupled a pair of points together to make it a one-point set, 24-23.
- Nowakowski took care of things for the host as she locked up the opening-frame with her third kill of the night.
SET TWO RECAP (25-20, SUFFOLK)
- Similar to the first frame, the second stanza was a see-saw affair as things were equal at 9-9.
- As if déjà vu was in play, the host found itself in a three-point hole 12-3.
- The Rams caught up and then some. After their own timeout, Suffolk outscored the Seahawks, 7-1, to grab a 16-13 lead.
- Salve Regina used a timeout to put a stop to Suffolk's scoring and it helped initially as the visitors chipped back in, 16-15.
- A Keowen kill was followed by an ace from the sophomore that restored a three-point margin for the blue-and-gold, 18-15.
- The Seahawks hung around and kept things close, 19-18.
- Suffolk did not allow Salve Regina to get any closer as it claimed the frame on a 6-2 stretch.
SET THREE RECAP (25-21, SALVE REGINA)
- Suffolk fell in a 3-1 hole to start.
- The Rams climbed out of the deficit with a 6-2 run that gave Suffolk a 7-4 upper hand.
- The blue-and-gold maintained that margin, 10-7, and pushed it to four on Jess Weber's fifth kill of the outing.
- Salve Regina took control from there as it put together an 8-2 run to flip the script in its favor, 15-13.
- As much as it tried Suffolk could not cut down the distance as the Seahawks slowly soared to the set victory, 25-21.
SET FOUR RECAP (25-22, SUFFOLK)
- Suffolk started hot, took a 4-1 lead.
- The Rams hung onto the advantage, 16-12.
- Salve Regina scored five straight points to reverse the role and grab the edge, 17-16.
- A 3-0 run by the Rams restored the lead for Suffolk, 19-17.
- From there, the score would even three times with the last coming at 22-22.
- Suffolk handled things from there with a 3-0 run that wrapped up the action.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Keowen contributed a 15-kill, 12-dig double-double effort that also featured two blocks and once ace.
- Harmony Johnson had a 39-assist, 14-dig double-double of her own that went along with a pair of aces and one kill.
- Weber logged 11 kills and three digs.
- Nowakowski notched seven kills, four blocks and one dig.
- James added six kills and three blocks.
- Kenzley Bell registered 29 digs and two helpers.
- Suffolk served 11 aces compared to the Seahawks three.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk defeated Salve Regina for the first time in program history.
- The Rams and Seahawks have played in a four-set match for the first time.
- Suffolk hosted SRU for the first time in program history.
- Keowen had her third double-double of the year and of her collegiate career.
- Johnson recorded her 10 collegiate double-double, three of the season.
- Prior to first serve, Suffolk recognized Bell as the third-ever Ram to reach the 1,000-dig mark. She is the fastest player to join the 1k dig club, reaching the feat in her 76th career match.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk takes next weekend to prep for its Tuesday, Oct. 18 tilt at Roger Williams. First serve between the Rams and Hawks is scheduled for 7 p.m.