Women’s Volleyball Falls in Five to Worcester State

BOSTON — Suffolk women's volleyball closed out Saturday's tri-match with a five-set defeat to Worcester State at the Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The loss came by set scores of 28-26, 25-27, 15-25, 25-20, and 11-15.

THE BASICS
SCORES: Suffolk 2 | Worcester State 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-7) | Worcester State (3-10) 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Neither side was able to open a lead as the squads split the first 20 points to see the set level at 10-all. Suffolk used a 5-0 run, highlighted by two Kathy Mo service aces, to step out to its largest lead of the frame at 15-11. Worcester State responded with an 8-4 run to erase the deficit and deadlock the set at 19. The two squads continued to trade points as the set saw its 18th tie at 26-all. A timely block from Grace Cervenka and Emily Norgrove helped close out the opening frame, that featured nine lead exchanges, at 28-26.
• The Lancers seized all the Ram's momentum in the second by climbing out to a 17-9 advantage. Suffolk retaliated with a commanding 16-8 spurt that was headlined by three kills each from Emmy Thomander and Norgrove to force deuce at 25-25. Kaitlyn Anthony denied the blue-and-gold of its comeback bid, as she closed the set with consecutive kills to give Worcester State the 27-25 stanza win.
• WSU picked up where it left off, as it jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the third frame. The Lancers never relinquished the lead and took the frame by a score of 25-15, to take a 2-1 set buffer.
• Norgrove helped the Rams get back on track in the fourth as she posted a service ace and a kill to hoist the Rams ahead 6-4. The set saw two more ties at 6-6 and 8-8 before Suffolk ripped four straight points off the serve of Chloe Clement to force Worcester State into a timeout at 14-9. Suffolk carried its five-point cushion to the end of the frame at 25-20, to force a fifth and deciding set.
• Worcester State used three service aces to take an 8-5 advantage as the teams switched sides. The Rams shortened the margin to one at 8-7, but the Lancers responded with two straight to reestablish a three-point gap, 10-7. Three straight kills from Cervenka tied matters at 10-all. The Lancers commanded things the rest of the way as they picked up five of the next six kills to claim the frame and match. 

STATISCTIALLY SPEAKING

• Suffolk rallied around the hands of Thomander (16 kills and .375 hitting percentage), and Cervenka (14 kills and .344 hitting percentage). 
• Clement and Norgrove trailed with eight and seven kills, respectively.
• Mo (25 digs) and Mackenzie Heaney (20 digs) combined for 45 digs on the backline.
• Lanigan dished out 48 assists to go along with nine digs.

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Worcester State met for the sixth time.
• The blue-and gold moved to 2-4 against Worcester State.
• The match marked the first five-set decision in the all-time series with the Lancers. 
• Thomander notched her second straight contest with double-digit kills. The freshman rewrote her personal-best with 16. 
• Noelle Kuijt picked up her first collegiate kill.
• Heaney matched a career-best 20 digs.
• Indi Zegarra Mendoza dug a collegiate-best six balls.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk opens Conference of New England (CNE) play at home against Johnson & Wales on Wednesday, Sept 20, with the opening serve set for 7:00 p.m.