Boston, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team notched its first home win of the season Tuesday evening, recording a 3-0 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium. After an exciting first set that saw the Saints come away with a 29-27 win, Emmanuel used the momentum to notch a 25-15 win in the second set followed by a 25-12 win to close out the match. With the victory the Saints improve to 4-6 overall on the year while the loss drops the Leopards to 4-6 as well.
Wentworth jumped ahead in the first set being strong play from senior middle hitter Julie Bruton (Montgomery, Texas) as she put the visitors on top 19-17 with her fourth kill of the set. The Saints turned it on, forcing extra points before with the service of junior libero Yun-Ting Lee (Cambridge, Mass.). The squads traded points and with the score deadlocked at 27-27, Emmanuel went to senior middle hitter Rebecca Stanton (Quincy, Mass.) who slammed down the 28th point before the Saints took the first set on a Leopard hitting miscue, 29-27.
Emmanuel came out on fire in the second set, racing ahead to a 7-2 lead forcing the Leopards to take a timeout. The Saints weren't flustered as they continued to push, extending their lead to 11-3 on a bizarre play that resulted in freshman setter Alison Donnelly (Longmeadow, Mass.) chipping her tooth on a diving dig to keep the play alive in which Emmanuel would eventually come away with the point. Back-to-back aces by senior setter Kathryne Olsen (Fairhaven, Mass.) pushed the lead to 19-4 before Wentworth awoke and rallied to pull within six points at 21-15 with the help of three aces during junior outside hitter Julie Rahilly's (Nashua, N.H.) service. The Saints used a timeout to kill the rally and were then able to push the last four points home to take the set, 25-15.
In the third set, Emmanuel used a strong service game to notch the 25-12 win to secure the match. Junior middle hitter Moriah Long (Halifax, Mass.) and freshman defensive specialist Christine Durkee (Salem, Conn.) each served up three aces a piece while the Saints defense at the net forced the Leopards to hit negatively in the frame.
Stanton led all hitters with 14 kills while Olsen chipped in with 31 assists to pace the Saints offensive effort. Rahilly and Bruton each finished with seven kills apiece for Wentworth while freshman setter Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) dished out 20 assists.
Emmanuel will be back in action on Thursday, September 15 when they play host to Western Connecticut State University at 7:00 p.m. while the Leopards are idle until Saturday, September 17 when they head to Pine Manor College for a tri-meet beginning at 1:00 p.m. with a match vs. Lesley University followed by a contest against the hosts in Pine Manor at 3:00 p.m.
(Release Courtesy of Emmanuel Sports Information)