Volleyball Battles Back to Defeat Stonehill, 3-1
Box Score
EASTON, Mass. (Oct. 19, 2013) - After dropping a tightly-contested 25-27 first set, the LIU Post women's volleyball team stormed back with three straight wins (25-14, 25-15, 25-20) to take down Stonehill, 3-1, Saturday afternoon in Easton, Mass.
With the win, the Pioneers improved to 16-5 on the season, while Stonehill dipped to 12-9 overall.
The Pioneers jumped to a 10-2 lead to start the first set, but the Skyhawks inched their way back into the game, tying the score at 22-up. The score was tied three more times, the latest coming at 25-all, but Stonehill took the 27-25 win on two straight Pioneer attack errors.
With the Pioneers leading 8-6 in the second set, they rattled off a 10-2 run to increase their lead to 10 (18-8). Stonehill answered with three straight, but LIU Post closed out the set on a 7-3 run to take the win, 25-14. Freshman Shelby McCool (Eugene, Ore.) notched the final point with a kill off a feed from junior Lulu Centro (Rome, Italy).
The third set began more tightly contested than the previous two, with the Pioneers leading by three at 15-12. That all changed, as the green and gold scored 10 of the next 13 points to win the set, 25-15. Five of those 10 Pioneer points came courtesy of Melissa Hansen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) kills, while Susy Cricchi (Brogovelino, Rieti, Italy) chipped in with two kills over that same span. The final point came via a Skyhawk attack error.
The fourth set was much of the same. LIU Post scored the first two points, followed by two from Stonehill. This was the one and only time the two squads were tied in this fourth and final set. The Pioneers held the lead for the remainder of the game, closing out the set on three straight points, with the first two coming off the hand of McCool and the final one a Skyhawk attack error.
Hansen paced the Pioneers with 19 kills and a .444 attack percentage. Junior Heather Adams (Centerville, Ohio) added 12 kills, while McCool and senior Makamae Namahoe (Hilo, Hawaii) tallied 11 apiece. Namahoe also added 16 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Sophomore Rachel Ringor (Honolulu, Hawaii) recorded a game-high 19 digs, while Centro notched a game-high 51 assists.
For Stonehill, Kirsten Arvidson was the lone player to reach double figures with 14 kills.
The Pioneers return to action on Tuesday (Oct. 22), as they host Pace at the Pratt Recreation Center. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.