BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College women’s volleyball team hosted a non-conference tri-match to kick off its 2010 season and fell short in both matches 3-1 to Bard College and 3-2 to Mahattanville College in the Mountaineer Athletic Center. Junior Ashliy Veliz, of Glendale, California led all squads with 41 kills on the day.
Bard 3, Southern Vermont 1
SVC played strong in the opening match of the day but came up short in a 3-1 loss to Raptors. Veliz led the squad with 11 kills on 27 attempts. She also contributed 14 digs. Assisting Veliz was junior Hershey Canta who tallied 16 assists. Canta led SVC with five aces in match. Junior Joanna Hogue led the Mountaineers defensively with 24 digs and she added three kills. Junior Tasha Smith added six kills.
Manhattanville 3, Bard 2
Manhattanville 3, Southern Vermont 2
The Mountaineers came into its second match with a lot of energy and shutdown the Valiant’s 25-10. Led by Veliz once again, the junior hitter tallied 30 kills in the match hitting a stunning .456. She also contributed 13 digs on defense. Canta had a solid match at setter throwing up 35 assists for SVC. Hogue led the defensive front once again with 35 digs to round out the box.
MC bounced back from the defeat and won the second set 25-19 over SVC. Southern Vermont once again turned it up a notch and won the third set 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead on Manhattanville. The Valiant’s were not ready to go home and won the fourth set 25-22 and ultimately won the fifth set 16-14 to close out a match filled with very good volleyball. The Valiant’s were led by junior Makana Gomes who had 11 kills and 23 digs.
