Statistics
BOSTON -- The University of New England went on the road and defeated Suffolk University by a 3-0 margin (25-16, 26-24, 25-13) in a Conference of New England (CNE) contest at Smith Court on Wednesday (Oct. 7).
Lylah Shumway led the back line defense with 17 digs, while
Tess Madden totaled 15, and both
Hayley Shult and
Hannah Nowell contributed 10.
"I loved how tenacious we were defensively," commented UNE head coach Ian Blanchard. "Lylah was everywhere, as was Tess and Hayley. We ended up out-digging them, and it was the third-lowest opponent hitting percentage of the season."
Abby Simao fueled the visiting attack with 10 kills, and Madden had a match-best 13.5 points behind nine kills, three aces, and part of three blocks.
Kendall Gallaugher added nine points, largely from five kills and four blocks (2 solo). The Nor'easters (6-5, 2-1 CNE) collected 17 assists from Shult and 11 out of
Olivia Hollander.
"Abby played really well, Tess was, once again, super steady, in all facets of the game, and Kendall was excellent in both her hitting and blocking. I think Hayley played her best match of the season -- the location of her sets and distribution reads were right on."
For the Rams (7-9, 0-4), Emmy Thomander and Kaylee Perrault each had six kills, and 22 assists came from Aislinn Lanigan. Mackenzie Heaney accumulated 17 digs, with 15 more from Korinn Hall-Johnson and Kathy Mo.
"I have to give Suffolk credit, they are an incredibly scrappy team, and dealing with several injuries. But we really rose to the occasion tonight and got our first-ever win at their place."
It was 8-7 in favor of UNE during the early stages of the evening, until Simao notched three kills to spur an 11-3 stretch to break things open (19-10).
The 2nd set featured 15 ties and nine lead-changes, and included mini runs by both squads at the finish. Four in-a-row by Suffolk made it 21-19, only to see four straight go the other way (UNE 23-21). The next three fell in the Rams' column to establish a set-point to square the overall match, but an error leveled back up. Hollander's third ace restored the UNE cushion (25-24), and one of Gallaugher's solo rejections sealed it for the Nor'easters.
A 4-0 start to the 3rd was all UNE needed to maintain control, and seven unanswered points in the middle lifted the spread into double digits (18-8).
The Nor'easters are back at home for a key showdown with Endicott College on Saturday (4 p.m.).
