BENNINGTON, Vt. – Southern Vermont College fell 3-1 to Becker College Tuesday night in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's volleyball play at the Mountaineer Athletic Center.
After the Hawks comfortably took the first two sets by 25-11 and 25-12 margins, SVC fought hard to prevent the sweep. The Mountaineers extended the match with a 25-23 edge in the third, and the hosts then continued to push as the fourth frame was tightly-contested as well. Becker closed out the game on a strong foot, however, going on a 7-3 run to take the set 25-18 and win the match.
SVC (5-18, 0-6 NECC) next hits the court on Saturday for its Senior Day, playing host to Lesley University at 5:30 p.m. in an NECC showdown; prior to the start of the contest, the Mountaineers will recognize and honor their lone senior-- Brin Goldman (St. Croix, Virgin Islands). Becker (8-14, 1-4 NECC) hits the road on Saturday for its next match, visiting Mitchell College for a 12 p.m. league tilt.
Goldman paced the Mountaineers with eight kills, eight assists, two aces and a team-best 20 digs on the night while freshman Sarah Billow (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) followed with seven kills and nine digs. Bennington College freshman Gaby Oropeza (Riverside, Calif.) had 14 digs, eight assists, two aces and two kills for SVC, and sophomore libero Lizzy Bench (St. Petersburg, Fla.) notched 12 digs and three assists in the effort.
Becker sophomore Kayla Dupree (North Bergen, N.J.) tallied a match-best nine kills to go with her five digs, and senior Marissa Turner (Coventry, R.I.) had nine kills of her own while adding three digs, two aces and three blocks to her line. Sophomore libero Brittney Bullis (Stafford, Va.) registered a night-best 23 digs, and she also had four service aces and three kills in the win. Junior Charlene Landry (Gorham, Maine) had a great all-around evening, recording 25 assists, 14 digs, five kills and four aces.
A 9-1 run early in the first set provided Becker with a solid upper hand that would be carried through the remainder of the frame; the first three points of that stretch all came via kills as Landry, Turner and sophomore Erin Sacharanski (Union Beach, N.J.) each landed one. A pair of Billow kills made it a 16-6 Hawk lead midway through the set, and a few visitor miscues would then cut it down to a nine-point SVC deficit. Becker would take to a 7-2 run to close it out, however, getting kills from four players to win the game.
The Hawks carried their momentum into the second set to win the first three points, only to see Southern Vermont answer with three straight of its own to stay close. The teams then traded points back-and-forth before an attacking error by Becker made it a 9-8 upper hand for the visitors. They would subsequently rattle off five consecutive points with kills from Turner and Landry to go on top by six. Southern Vermont won the next point, only to see the Hawks score the following five and force a Mountaineer timeout; Landry had three aces in that spurt as Turner chipped in with a kill. A Goldman kill made it a 20-12 stanza, but Becker finished it off with five-straight points that all came on kills-- freshman Micaela Rice (Charlton, Mass.) having three of those.
The third set was a tight frame as neither side led by more than two points throughout. A pair of Dupree kills gave the Hawks a 6-4 edge, but SVC was able to tie it up at 8-8 on a service ace off of Goldman's hand. Becker went back in front with the next two, only to see the Mountaineers land four straight kills for the advantage; freshman Tay Phillips (Stephentown, N.Y.) had two of those while Oropeza and Billow each recorded one.
Becker would take to a 5-1 run to regain the lead, but the momentum shifted back to Southern Vermont as Goldman laded a pair of kills to help her team go on top 17-16. A Bullis ace put the upper hand back in the hands of Becker, but a Goldman ace then made it a 20-19 SVC edge. The Hawks won three out of four points late in the set to go in front 23-22, only to see the Mountaineers win the final three to make it a 2-1 visitors' lead on the night.
Another Bullis ace put Becker up 4-2 in the onset of the fourth, but SVC came right back with three straight behind a Goldman kill and ensuing ace by the senior captain. The two sides went back-and-forth with small spurts before the Hawks notched seven unanswered points to go up by six and force a Southern Vermont timeout. The Mountaineers came out of the stoppage to tally four straight with help from a pair of aces by junior Julia Florence (Salem, Mass.).
Kills from Sacharanski, Turner and senior Cheyenne Melanson (Sandown, N.H.) set the score at 18-14 in favor of Becker, and a Bullis ace then made it a five-point lead for the Hawks. Goldman landed a kill, and Oropeza followed with an ace to get their team back within three (21-18), but the visitors ran off four-straight points with a pair of kills by both Dupree and freshman Sofia Cullina (Deep River, Conn.) to claim their first Conference victory of the year.
– #LetsGoSVC –