Volleyball Snaps Skid with 3-1 Win Over Salve Regina

BOSTON – Suffolk volleyball reentered the win column for with a 3-1 Commonwealth Coast Conference triumph against Salve Regina Wednesday night at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The Rams victory, their first in five outings, came by set scores 25-23, 25-20, 21-25 and 25-22. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Salve Regina 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (13-9, 1-3 CCC) | Salve Regina (11-6, 3-1 CCC)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-23, SUFFOLK)

• It was a back-and-forth opening as the score leveled seven times and the lead exchanged four, with the last coming at 9-8 in Salve Regina's favor. 
• The Seahawks used a 5-1 rally to take the lead and build a three-point, 11-8 edge. 
• That three-point margin remained until 14-11 when the Rams rallied back.
• An attack error by Lauren Hoyle preceded back-to-back blue-and-gold blocks. Alina Nowakowski factored into both as the sophomore teamed up with Jasmine James and McKenna Keowen to tied things up at 14. 
• Things would stay even until the home stretch. 
• From a 21-all set, Suffolk scored three in a row. That spurt featured a kill from James and a pair of aces by Morgan Kelsey to make it set point, 24-21. 
• Salve Regina kept things interesting as it coupled a pair of points together to make it a one-point set, 24-23. 
• Nowakowski took care of things for the host as she locked up the opening-frame with her third kill of the night.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-20, SUFFOLK)

• Similar to the first frame, the second stanza was a see-saw affair as things were equal at 9-9. 
• As if déjà vu was in play, the host found itself in a three-point hole 12-3. 
• The Rams caught up and then some. After their own timeout, Suffolk outscored the Seahawks, 7-1, to grab a 16-13 lead.  
• Salve Regina used a timeout to put a stop to Suffolk's scoring and it helped initially as the visitors chipped back in, 16-15. 
• A Keowen kill was followed by an ace from the sophomore that restored a three-point margin for the blue-and-gold, 18-15. 
• The Seahawks hung around and kept things close, 19-18. 
• Suffolk did not allow Salve Regina to get any closer as it claimed the frame on a 6-2 stretch. 

SET THREE RECAP (25-21, SALVE REGINA)

• Suffolk fell in a 3-1 hole to start. 
• The Rams climbed out of the deficit with a 6-2 run that gave Suffolk a 7-4 upper hand.
•  The blue-and-gold maintained that margin, 10-7, and pushed it to four on Jess Weber's fifth kill of the outing. 
• Salve Regina took control from there as it put together an 8-2 run to flip the script in its favor, 15-13. 
• As much as it tried Suffolk could not cut down the distance as the Seahawks slowly soared to the set victory, 25-21. 

SET FOUR RECAP (25-22, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk started hot, took a 4-1 lead. 
• The Rams hung onto the advantage, 16-12. 
• Salve Regina scored five straight points to reverse the role and grab the edge, 17-16.
• A 3-0 run by the Rams restored the lead for Suffolk, 19-17. 
• From there, the score would even three times with the last coming at 22-22. 
• Suffolk handled things from there with a 3-0 run that wrapped up the action.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Keowen contributed a 15-kill, 12-dig double-double effort that also featured two blocks and once ace. 
• Harmony Johnson had a 39-assist, 14-dig double-double of her own that went along with a pair of aces and one kill. 
• Weber logged 11 kills and three digs. 
• Nowakowski notched seven kills, four blocks and one dig. 
• James added six kills and three blocks. 
• Kenzley Bell registered 29 digs and two helpers. 
• Suffolk served 11 aces compared to the Seahawks three.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated Salve Regina for the first time in program history.
• The Rams and Seahawks have played in a four-set match for the first time. 
• Suffolk hosted SRU for the first time in program history. 
• Keowen had her third double-double of the year and of her collegiate career. 
• Johnson recorded her 10 collegiate double-double, three of the season. 
• Prior to first serve, Suffolk recognized Bell as the third-ever Ram to reach the 1,000-dig mark. She is the fastest player to join the 1k dig club, reaching the feat in her 76th career match.  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk takes next weekend to prep for its Tuesday, Oct. 18 tilt at Roger Williams. First serve between the Rams and Hawks is scheduled for 7 p.m.