Sept. 28, 2010

Box Score

UMass Lowell volleyball picked up a well deserved victory on Tuesday night at Merrimack College, 3-1. The River Hawks were led by senior Sarah Coscia (Pittsfield, Mass.) who scored a match-high 20 kills in the win.

UMass Lowell now leads the season series with Merrimack, 2-0, while improving to 7-5 overall and 2-0 in Northeast-10 play. The loss dropped the Warriors to 2-8 on the campaign and 1-4 in conference action.

In an up and down opening set, the River Hawks pulled out a 25-23 victory as Lea Freeman (Methuen, Mass.) scored a pair of kills to end it, putting UMass Lowell up 1-0. For the opening frame, Freeman and Coscia each tallied five kills. Setter Kristina Wiltjer (San Diego, Calif.) was also strong with 10 assists and two kills.

The Warriors struck back in the second with a 14-25 win. Coscia managed four more kills, but Merrimack set the pace with a powerful offensive attack as they evened the match at 1-1.

Refocused, the River Hawks roared through the next two sets, 25-22 and 27-25. In the fourth frame, Coscia took over the court with nine kills while Freeman kept pace with six of her own.

For the match, Coscia tallied 20 kills and two blocks. Freeman had 15 kills, 15 digs and five blocks. Setting up the attack, Wiltjer totaled 39 assists and 14 digs.

In addition to Freeman and Wiltjer, three other River Hawks reached double-digit digs including freshman Carolyn Eddy (Dracut, Mass.) who had a team-best 28. Junior Vicky Wong (Tewksbury, Mass.) dug 11 balls and freshman Brooke Peterson (Del Mar, Calif.) had 10.

Merrimack's offense was bottled up by UMass Lowell as Shaunda Forcier (Gonic, N.H.) was the lone Warrior to reach double-digit kills with 12.

With the victory in hand, the River Hawks now turn their attention to St. Rose College. UMass Lowell will travel to Albany, NY on Saturday for a 1 p.m. match.