BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Danielle Rose (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) recorded 11 kills and sophomore Sarah Colby (West Barnstable, Mass.) added eight kills as the Emmanuel College women's volleyball team defeated host Wentworth, 3-0, in a match between two Colleges of the Fenway institutions played at Tansey Gymnasium.
Wentworth had a fast start out if the gates to open the match as the Leopards scored the first six and six of the first seven points of the first set. The Saints battled back and took a 13-12 lead. The Leopards would reclaim the lead and hold a 16-13 advantage before Emmanuel scored four straight points to take a 17-16 lead. The Leopards would eventually tie the set at 18-all but the Saints went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-18 lead and eventually would win, 25-23.
On the heels of strong serving Emmanuel jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the second set and pulled ahead, 15-9. However, Wentworth made a late run, as the leopards turned a 19-15 deficit into a 19-19 tie. After the Saints took a 21-19 lead, the Black & Gold scored the set's next two points and tied the game at 21-all on an attack error. The set would be tied two more times – at 23-all and 24-all – but Emmanuel scored the last two points to take a 26-24 triumph.
Set three saw eight ties in the early going, with the teams going back and forth and eventually being deadlocked at 13-all. However, Emmanuel scored six straight points and seemed to be in control with leads of 19-13 and 22-15. Wentworth would not go away quietly, using a 9-2 run to tie the set at 24-all. The Saints would complete the sweep, however, on a service error and a blocking error.
Sophomore Allison Donnelly (Longmeadow, Mass.) added four kills, three aces, and 19 assists in the win, while freshman Brittany Tutalo (Johnston, R.I.) had three blocks. Senior Yun-Ting Lee (Keelung, Taiwan) and sophomore Christine Durkee (Salem, Conn.) had 17 and 12 digs, respectively.
Wentworth was led by 12 kills from junior Michelle Hobbs (Northwood, N.H.), with senior Julie Rahilly (Nashua, N.H.) adding six kills, two aces and nine digs. Senior Nicole Wetherbee (Pembroke, Mass.) and freshman Ayanna Hampton (Dorchester, Mass.) each had five kills. Wetherbee also added eight digs. Sophomore Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) had 24 assists on the night, while classmate Jessica Houghton (Billerica, Mass.) had 14 digs.
With the win Emmanuel improves to 3-6 on the year and hosts Keene State on Thursday night. Wentworth sees its record even at 3-3 and is at Rivier on Saturday for a tri-match with the Raiders and Bates.
