BOSTON – Down 2-0, Suffolk volleyball stormed back, tied things up at 2-all and took the fifth and deciding set easily to defeat Framingham State, 3-2, Tuesday night at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The comeback win came via set scores 21-25, 21-25, 25-12, 25-11 and 25-5.
Sami Shore was instrumental to Suffolk's success as the sophomore supplied a match-best 20 kills on a .679 attack percentage with five blocks.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Framingham State 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (9-2) | Framingham State (3-5)
SET ONE RECAP (25-21, FRAMINGHAM STATE)
- After 10 tied scores and four lead exchanges, Framingham State built a 22-16 cushion that forced Scott Blanchard into his second timeout of the first frame.
- A Shore kill, her third of the night boosted the host Rams on a 5-1 run that pulled the blue-and-gold within two, 23-21. In that spurt, Shore supplied two kills, while McKenna Keowen had one and pair of aces.
- The visiting Rams used back-to-back kills by Natalie Reynolds to seal the opening set, 25-21.
SET TWO RECAP (25-21, FRAMINGHAM STATE)
- Out of a 5-all tie, Framingham State poured in four unanswered to put the Boston Rams in a 9-4 hole.
- That gap grew to as many as nine, 16-7.
- Shore and Emily Norgrove combined for a block, which sparked Suffolk. The host Rams rolled on a 4-1 run to pull within six. Shore added two more kills in that rally to go along with her block.
- Framingham State started to pull away again as it rebuilt an eight-point edge, 19-11.
- Once again, a Shore block came up big. This time the sophomore joined forces with Chloe Clement to ignite a Suffolk comeback.
- Following the block, the blue-and-gold rattled off an 8-1 spurt to make it a three-point set, 21-18.
- The teams traded points to keep the distance at three, 23-20.
- The visiting Rams sandwiched points around a block by Jasmine James and Shore to take the stanza, 25-21.
SET THREE RECAP (25-12, SUFFOLK)
- Suffolk started to turn things around in the third.
- Down 6-5, two consecutive kills by Keowen helped regain the edge for the host Rams.
- A J Martinez ace padded the cushion to a pair and before you knew it Suffolk was up by double digits, 20-10.
- The ground was too much for Framingham State to make up and Suffolk outscored the guest, 5-2, to get on the scoreboard.
SET FOUR RECAP (25-11, SUFFOLK)
- Suffolk's momentum carried into fourth frame as a it jumped out to a 7-1 lead that turned into a 15-7 advantage at the midway point.
- The blue-and-gold did not let up out of a Framingham timeout as it put on cruise control to coast to a 25-11 win and force a fifth set.
SET FIVE RECAP (15-5, SUFFOLK)
- A 4-1 Suffolk lead turned into an 8-4 cushion when the foes switched sides.
- The Boston Rams outscored the visitors 11-4 the rest of the way to secure the thrilling comeback victory.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Shore finished the night with a match-best 20 kills on a .679 connection rate with just one attack error. She added defensive depth as well with five blocks and one dig.
- Keowen contributed 12 kills, eight digs, five aces, two assists and two blocks.
- Grace Cervenka recorded nine kills on a .444 attack percentage with seven blocks and four digs.
- Jayla Martinez registered 41 assists, 11 digs, four aces and four blocks.
- Morgan Kelsey added 23 digs, two aces and two handouts.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk defeated Framingham State in back-to-back meetings for the first time in program history.
- Since 2003, Suffolk is now 4-14 all-time against Framingham State.
- At home, Suffolk is 3-2 versus Framingham State.
- Suffolk is 2-2 against Framingham State in the Blanchard era.
- Suffolk and Framingham State went the distance for the second time in program history, first since Sept. 22, 2022.
- Both five set matches between Suffolk and Framingham State have come under Blanchard's guidance.
- The Boston Rams defeated FSU in five sets for the first time in program history.
- Shore had a career-high in kills (20) and attack percentage (.679) and tied a personal-best five block assists.
- Cervenka logged a career-best seven block assists.
- Martinez had her first double-double of the season, third of her collegiate career.
- Martinez notched career-high in digs (11) and block assists (4).
- Emily Norgrove matched a career-high in kills (6) and block assists (1).
- Chloe Clement logged a personal-best three block assists.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk heads to Southern Maine Thursday, Sept. 19 for a 7:00 p.m.