Sept. 8, 2009

Box Score

Audio Recap - The River Hawk Report 

In a well balanced and focused attack, the UMass Lowell volleyball team raced through a three-set sweep of Post University on Tuesday night. Stat sheet mainstays Sarah Coscia (Pittsfield, MA) and Elsa LeGrand (Highlands Ranch, CO) reached double-digit kills with 12 and 10, respectively, to lead the offense.

The match scores were 25-16, 25-11 and 25-17.

The River Hawks move over .500 on the season with the win, improving their record to 4-3 overall. The Eagles slip to 0-4 with the loss. UMass Lowell stumbled out of the gate, landing the team in a small hole early in the evening. Junior Jillian Hadder (Yucaipa, CA) provided some stability as she took over the serve, pushing the River Hawks on a 7-0 run that gave them momentum and the eventual first set win, 25-16.

The second set saw UMass Lowell in a fierce rhythm as they cruised to a 25-11 victory on the heels of several hard hit kills by Coscia, who led the offense through much of the first two sets.

In the final game, the two teams exchanged blows early with the River Hawks holding a slight 10-7 edge. LeGrand took control, first with the serve, boosting her teams' lead with several quick points. The steadfast senior then grabbed the keys to the offense, picking up more than five of her kills in the third set.

Coscia finished with 12 kills, five blocks, three digs and a .526 attack percentage. LeGrand also hit with tremendous accuracy, tallying 10 kills and five digs with a .500 attack percentage. Senior setter Nichole Rondeau (Dracut, MA) played well, earning 25 assists, six digs and four kills. Juniors Vicky Wong (Tewksbury, MA) and Hadder each dug 11 balls.

UMass Lowell now turns its attention to the first conference match of the season, traveling to American International on Thursday for a 7 p.m. showdown. "We have our big first conference match on Thursday," said head coach Karen McNulty after the win. "We are pretty excited and focused on that."