Leopards Place Second at SJC Autumn Invitational

STANDISH, Maine – The Wentworth women's volleyball posted a 2-2 record, which was good for second place at the 2010 SJC Autumn Invitational, held at St. Joseph's College.  On Friday evening the Leopards were defeated by the host Monks, 3-1, before defeating Lyndon State, 3-0.  A 3-1 win over Green Mountain in the first match of the day on Saturday set up a re-match with the Monks in the title game, but the hosts prevailed, 3-0.

Six days after Wentworth and the Monks squared off at the Wheaton Invitational, the Leopards began this match as they did the first meeting of the year between the two – by jumping out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-21 win in the opening set.  However, St. Joseph's evened the match by winning the second set by an identical score and would jump out to a 10-1 lead in the third set before Wentworth eventually cut the lead to four.  That would be as close as the visitors would get, as the Monks took a 25-20 win.  The hosts once again jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set and never looked back, closing out the match with a 25-17 win and improving to 3-2 on the season.

Freshman Michelle Hobbs (Northwood, N.H.) had 10 digs and seven digs, while sophomore Julie Rahilly (Nashua, N.H.) had 10 kills and three aces.  Junior Julie Bruton (Montgomery, Texas) had a match-high 15 digs to go along with seven kills and three aces, while sophomore Nicole Wetherbee (Pembroke, Mass.) had 12 digs.  Sophomore Rebecca Williams (Brockton, Mass.) had 24 assists.

Rookie head coach Jenn Kelemen picked up her first career win as Wentworth made quick work of Lyndon State (0-2).   The Leopards rolled in the first set with a 25-7 win and upped their lead to 2-0 with a 25-12 win in the second set.  Wentworth (1-4) completed the sweep by holding the Hornets to single digits in the third set, taking home a 25-9 win.

Bruton recorded six kills, four digs, and three blocks in the win, with freshman Meaghan Doyle (Preston, Conn.) adding five digs.  Rahilly had four kills while Williams added 20 assists.

Wentworth hit a combined .321 in the first two sets against Green Mountain, winning 25-15 and 25-19, respectively.  The Eagles would cut the lead in half with a 25-23 win in the third set, but the Leopards would run its win streak to two with a 25-17 win in the fourth set.

Rahilly paced the offense with 13 kills, while Bruton added 12 kills and four blocks, and Hobbs had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.  Williams recorded 36 assists as the Leopards hit .297 as a team.

For the second time in as many days and third time in a week, Wentworth and St. Joseph's faced off against each other.  The Monks would jump out to a 25-16 lead in the first set and increase their lead to 2-0 with a 25-15 win in the second set.  Needing a win to stay alive, the Leopards hung with the hosts but would fall, 25-21.

Hobbs had eight kills and 10 digs, while Doyle added six and Bruton five, respectively.  Rahilly and Wetherbee each had 11 digs in the match, while Williams had 19 assists.

Rahilly averaged 2.14 kills and hit .241 offensively and averaged 1.64 digs in 14 sets, while Williams averaged 7.07 assists per set.  Both were named to the all-tournament team.

The Leopards, 2-5 on the season, host Emmanuel on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m.