Sept. 10, 2009

Box Score

The UMass Lowell volleyball won its fourth-straight match, earning its first Northeast-10 conference win with a three-set sweep of American International on Thursday night. Junior Jillian Hadder (Yacaipa, CA) led the River Hawks with 10 kills and 11 digs.

The scores of the match were 25-21, 25-20 and 25-11.

The win, UMass Lowell's second consecutive sweep after Tuesday's victory versus Post, boosts the River Hawks' record to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in conference. The Yellow Jackets suffered their first loss of the season, slipping to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the NE-10.

The key to UMass Lowell's success was the play of senior setter Nichole Rondeau (Dracut, MA) who continued her stellar season with 30 assists and five digs.

Elsa LeGrand (Highlands Ranch, CO) provided help to both sides of the net, striking eight kills, digging nine balls and notching four blocks. LeGrand now has 18 blocks in the last six games, giving the River Hawks a steady defensive force.

In addition to Hadder, two other players reached double-digit digs as junior Vicky Wong (Tewksbury, MA) had a team-best 13 while senior Allie Eide (Gresham, OR) added 11.

The River Hawks will look to extend its winning streak on Saturday with two non-conference matches in the Bentley Tournament on the UMass Lowell campus. First up are the Georgian Court Lions at 1 p.m., followed by a clash with the Bloomfield Deacons at 3 p.m.