BOSTON, Mass - The Roger Williams women's volleyball team cruised past Wentworth Institute of Technology, 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-8), Wednesday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference play at Tansey Gymnasium. With the win the Hawks, ranked 24th in Division III, improve to 20-1 overall and 4-1 in CCC play. The loss the Leopards drop to 11-7 overall and 1-3 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play.
Roger Williams opened the match on a 12-3 run before the Leopards called their first timeout. The stoppage was not enough to halt the offensive onslaught by the Hawks as they continued to pile on the points led by sophomore Elizabeth Flaherty's (Sloatsburg, N.Y.) seven kills. The Leopards continued to fight in set number one but Roger Williams kept the pressure on and took the set 25-8.
Set two began with the Hawks jumping out to a quick 3-1 lead in before the Leopards battled back to tighten the match at 7-5 with a 3-0 spurt. Roger Williams counterattacked after Wentworth's run and took six of the next seven points capped by senior Krystie Luczynski's (Kensington, Conn.) kill to make the score 12-6 in favor of the Hawks. Wentworth took a timeout with the score 14-6 and then dropped seven of eight points allowing the Hawks to extend their lead to 20-7. The Leopards battled and finished the match on a 5-3 run but freshmen Brittany McMullen (Lancaster, Pa) and Sarah McAniff (Redding, Conn.) controlled the net with multiple blocks and the Hawks took the set 25-12.
The third frame was dominated by Roger Williams who was sparked by freshman Kristin Boyer's (Ephrata, Pa.) three early kills. The Hawks scored the first five points and never looked back as they extended their lead to 16-4 with consistent defense, excellent passing and a balanced offense. The Leopards then took three straight points to make the score 16-7 but Roger Williams upped the pressure and finished the match on a 9-1 run. Freshman Sydni Ulibarri's (Apple Valley, Calif.) kill closed the door as the Hawks took the last set 25-8.
Flaherty and junior Andrea Gorman (Wilbraham, Mass.) led Roger Williams with seven kills each. Flaherty would add six digs, while McAniff totaled 12 digs of her own. Sophomore Darian Tredennick (Houston, Texas) had 11 digs and four aces in the victory. Sophomore Nicole Weber (Poulsbo, Wash.) and senior Alexa Armenti (Dix Hills, N.Y.) had 17 and 14 assists, respectively.
Wentworth was led by sophomore Hannah Bailey's (Plymouth, Mass.) six kills and seven digs. Classmate Jordan Young (Derry, N.H.) chipped in with three kills and a pair of digs while freshman Sheena Dinean added three kills and five digs of her own. Junior Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) had 10 assists.
The Leopards host Becker and Pine Manor in a non-conference tri-match on Saturday. Roger Williams heads to Springfield to compete in the Springfield Invitational Friday and Saturday.
