Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Lauren Davenport piled up 24 kills to lead the University of New England in a 3-2 women's volleyball victory (25-19, 25-27, 25-19, 20-25, 16-14) over Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Thursday evening (Sep. 23) at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The Nor'easters had defeated the Monks in straight sets back on September 4, but needed to go the distance this time to improve to 4-7 on the year. The teams traded blows the entire way in the 5th, as the first edge for either side that was greater than one point came at 14-12 on a service ace by Stephanie Erickson. A service error followed by an ace from Maggie Sylvester tied things up for the visitors (14-14), however Mia Martel put down a kill and an SJC handling error clinched it for the hosts.

After a combined 17 attack errors during the 4th frame, in which the Monks hit .042 and never trailed to level the match at 2-all, there were just three errant swings in the tiebreaking session. UNE posted its highest set hitting percentage of the night (.333) to close it out.

Davenport accounted for almost half of the winners for the Nor'easters (50) in the contest -- the most by a UNE player since 2012 and the fourth-most in the last 20 years of the program. Viktoria Pavlyuk added another 13 kills, and Adryona Miller five. Addie Miller lofted up 44 assists. Morgan Lynch stepped in to pick up 27 digs, and Paige Weatherbee collected 22 of her own (also a match-high four aces). Victoria Boutin and Davenport contributed 14 and 11 digs, respectively. Erickson tallied three solo blocks and assisted on two others.

For Saint Joseph's (3-7), Sylvester and Catherine Balzano each recorded nine kills, and Allison McMullen notched eight. Sierra Burns led all players with 28 digs (and had a team-best three aces), while Sam Holland registered 14, Hanna Holden 13, and Sylvester 12. Amanda Darby and Holden paired for 29 assists. Sarah Quinn factored in seven (2/5) of the team's eight blocks.

Back at the start, Davenport's fourth kill of the opening stanza sparked an 8-0 run as UNE separated from being even at 14-14. The Nor'easters held cushions of 4-0, 9-4, and 13-9 in the 2nd, only to see the Monks flip it to 22-18. Davenport erased an SJC set point at 23-24, but Sylvester did the same at 24-25 and then Sylvester finished off the set with another kill to square the scoreboard.

UNE regained the advantage in the 3rd, going ahead by seven (16-9) and never letting SJC any nearer than three (19-16). Davenport and Pavlyuk dialed up seven and five kills in the frame.

The Nor'easter get back to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action on Saturday at Roger Williams University.