Volleyball Stumped in Straight Sets at Eastern Nazarene

QUINCY, Mass. – Suffolk volleyball fell to Eastern Nazarene, 3-0, in the Rams' second match of the ENC Invitational Saturday morning at the Lahue Athletic Center. The back-and-forth setback came via set scores, 25-21, 26-24 and 25-20.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 0 | Eastern Nazarene 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1) | Eastern Nazarene (2-0)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-21, EASTERN NAZARENE) 

• A back-and-forth battle saw Suffolk in front 9-5. 
• The Lions leaped back with four straight points to level the playing field for the second time on the afternoon, 9-all. 
• The score would level three times more before the Rams went up a pair, 17-15.
• Eastern Nazarene flipped the script in its favor thanks to four points in a row, 19-17.
• Suffolk used a timeout to battle back and managed to pull within one, 22-21. 
• The Lions rattled off the last three points to finish the frame.

SET TWO RECAP (26-24, EASTERN NAZARENE)

• A see-saw affair took place throughout the second stanza that featured 13 tied scores.
• Suffolk held a 21-18 lead before the Lions stormed back on a 5-2 stretch to level the playing field at 23-all. 
• After the teams traded points to make the score 24-24, Eastern Nazarene rattled off two more points to clinch the frame. 

SET THREE RECAP (25-20, EASTERN NAZARENE)

• The blue-and-gold went up 8-4 to start the third. 
• The Lions clawed back and knotted matters at 8-all. 
• Things continued in that nature until the midway point when things were evened at 15-all. 
• From there Eastern Nazarene took control and jumped ahead, 20-15. 
• That distance proved to be the difference as each team put up five more points to close the set.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• McKenna Keowen paced Suffolk's attack with 13 kills. She was on the cusp of a double-double with nine digs to go along with two aces. 
• Jess Weber supplied eight kills and two digs. 
• Grace Cervenka had four kills and a pair of blocks. 
• Jasmine James notched four kills and one block. 
• Harmony Johnson set up the attack with 21 assists to go along with seven digs and one ace. 
• Kenzley Bell anchored the defensive with 15 digs. She added four assists and one ace.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk moved to 7-6 all-time against Eastern Nazarene. 
• The last three meetings between the Rams and Lions have been determined via straight sets. 
• Six battles between Suffolk and ENC have been decided in straight sets. Suffolk moved to 3-3 versus the Lions in such instances. 
• The blue-and-gold moved to 3-2 when playing the Lions on the road.  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk concludes action at the ENC Invitational this afternoon against UMaine Presque Isle. First serve is set for approximately 2 p.m.