Oct. 17, 2009

Box Score

The River Hawk volleyball team bounced back from a tough loss on Friday to nab a 3-1 win over Southern Connecticut St. on Saturday. UMass Lowell was led by junior Vicky Wong (Tewksbury, MA) with 16 kills and 17 digs.

The match scores were 25-21, 25-27, 28-26 and 25-14.

The late-season conference win boosted the River Hawks to 14-8 overall and 7-3 in the Northeast-10. The Owls slide to 18-6 on the season and 6-5 in conference play.

UMass Lowell took control from the start as junior Sarah Coscia (Pittsfield, MA) picked up seven of her 16 kills in the first set for a 25-21 win. However, the momentum suffered a setback in the second set as the River Hawks fell 25-27 despite getting four kills each from Coscia, Wong and Jillian Hadder (Yucaipa, CA).

With the score evened at a game-a-piece, either team could've assumed control and Allie Eide (Gresham, OR) emerged as the key piece of UMass Lowell's backline, digging seven balls. Eide's defense allowed Coscia to pick up five more kills and the energy heading into the fourth set after a 28-26 win.

Wong proved to be the driving force in the decisive set, scoring five kills and seven digs. Eide also dug nine balls as the River Hawks sped off with a 25-14 win and the match victory.

Coscia and Wong tied for the team-high with 16 kills each. Hadder made a big impact as well, securing 11 kills and 16 digs for one of UMass Lowell's three double-doubles. Eide finished with a match-high 23 digs for her sixth consecutive game with double-digit digs.

The powerful and versatile River Hawk offense was orchestrated by Nichole Rondeau (Dracut, MA) who dished out 41 assists; the fifth time she has topped the 40 assist plateau this season. Rondeau also dug 19 balls in the match.

UMass Lowell has a short break before they host NE-10 foe Saint Anselm on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Costello Gym.