BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Jenny Finneran (Barnstead, N.H.) had a match-high 12 kills and five blocks as the Daniel Webster women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Wentworth Institute of Technology, 3-2, in a non-conference match at Tansey Gymnasium.
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead with a 25-21 win in the opening set, a set that saw nine ties and neither team holding more than a two-point lead in the early stages. However, the Leopards took advantage of several Daniel Webster miscues in the second set to even the match with a 25-15 win and took a 2-1 lead with a 25-22 win in the third set.
Daniel Webster went ahead early in the fourth set by an 11-5 lead and held leads of 15-9 and 17-11 before Wentworth battled back to pull within one at 23-22. After a Leopard timeout, the teams exchanged points giving the visitors set point. Despite breaking serve and tying the match up at 24-all, the Eagles pulled out the next two points to even the match and force a deciding set.
While there were four ties early in the fifth set, Daniel Webster turned a 5-all set into a 9-5 lead and never looked back, including scoring the last four points in a 15-8 win.
Juniors Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass.) and Samantha Hill (Hudson, N.H.) had nine and seven kills, respectively, while senior Caitlyn DePierro (Billerica, Mass.) had 33 assists in the win.
Sophomore Michelle Hobbs (Northwood N.H.) paced the Leopards with 11 kills to go along with nine digs. Freshman Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) had nine kills and 22 assists, while senior Julie Bruton (Montgomery, Texas) had five kills, six aces, and 16 digs.
With the win Daniel Webster snaps a two-match losing streak and improves to 7-2 on the season. The Eagles travel to Worcester State on Saturday for a tri-match against the Lancers and Salem State. Wentworth falls to 6-8 and will host Manhattanville and John Jay in a tri-match on Saturday.
