University of New England Athletics

Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Sparked by a 7-0 run to rally and take the opening set, the University of New England secured a vital Conference of New England women's volleyball victory against Roger Williams University, 3-1 (25-22, 25-14, 21-25, 25-14), on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 24) at Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum.

The triumph moves the Nor'easters (8-7, 4-3 CNE) ahead of the Hawks (8-15, 4-4) and into fifth place in the standings entering the last two weeks of the regular season.

UNE tallied a season-best 61 kills in the match, with a lot of support from the 52 combined assists out of Hayley Shult and Michaela Muldoon. The .301 attacking efficiency was the team's second-highest of the year, and the three service aces against was the second-lowest total.

"I'm incredibly proud of the effort in preparation for this one, and then to put the pieces together for a full match is pleasing," UNE head coach Ian Blanchard highlighted afterwards. "We were good in all phases today, and got big contributions from a lot of players, going up against a team we're battling with for playoff position. We played patient, which is an exciting sign of growth for us. Sometimes we try to make a play to end a rally because we get impatient, but today we were able to be consistently aggressive and not press."

The hosts trailed by as many as five in the 1st frame, and didn't panic when still down 22-18. Kendall Gallaugher had 2.5 points during the late surge into the lead, out of six straight points won. In the 2nd, it was 7-6 in favor of UNE, when the Nor'easters quickly pushed the gap to 15-8 -- aided by a pair of kills from Hannah Nowell and two aces from Lylah Shumway. Nowell notched seven winners during the stanza.

Roger Williams found some footing in the 3rd, though, and back-to-back kills by Angela West capped a 5-1 burst that gave the visitors the edge for good (17-13). UNE clawed back within one (20-19), but couldn't quite overtake the Hawks. "We were still right there because we were hitting it so well (.452)," noted Blanchard. "It was a four-point game, and we missed five serving opportunities."

Seven in-a-row early in the 4th -- featuring a couple of kills by Abby Simao -- had the Nor'easters rolling again (8-1). Although it eventually became 17-14, UNE got the next eight points on the scoreboard, including the match's lone solo stuff by Nowell to seal the deal.

Nowell ended with a match-high 19 kills, a team-best 18 digs, and cleanly received 21 RWU serves. "It was nice to get Hannah back on track, and so fitting to see her end the game that way. She really has a knack for coming up with emphatic blocks in huge moments."

Between Nowell, Aubrey Young, and Tess Madden, 67 of 70 returns were kept in play. Meanwhile, Shumway touched down six service aces -- the most by any player on UNE this season. "We talk about winning the battle of serve and serve receive. Lylah had 30 service attempts, which is a crazy amount. When a team is that effective serving the ball, you're keeping the opponent out-of-system and off of the net. Aubrey and Tess were also very strong receiving, and in their defensive rotations, too. Hayley made some key stretching saves for us, as well."

Young and Shult each supplied 15 digs, and Madden had 14 more. Offensively, after Nowell, Gallaugher provided 11 kills with a .500 hitting clip. Both Simao and Madden chipped in with 10, and Josie Eliot turned in another seven kills.

Pacing the Hawks was Peyton Felix with 15 kills and nine digs. West tacked on 13 kills, and Ava Lombardo had a team-high 20 assists while playing just the 3rd and 4th sets. Marianna Hernandez collected 25 digs and became RWU's career leader in the category.

The Nor'easters will now have a week off before entertaining Nichols College (3-5 CNE) next Saturday (1 p.m.).