Oct. 29, 2011

Box Score

Despite a 12 kill effort from sophomore Brooke Peterson (Del Mar, Calif.), UMass Lowell volleyball fell in three sets at Southern Connecticut State on Friday night.

The River Hawks drop to 11-8 overall this season and 7-5 in the Northeast-10. The Owls improve to 19-7 on their campaign and 8-4 in conference play. The match scores were 22-25, 21-25 and 26-28.

UMass Lowell paced the Southern Connecticut St. attack through most of the first set, but fell behind late. Trailing 18-24, the River Hawks reeled off four straight points to close the gap, but couldn't hold off Lauren McVey (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) from sealing out the set with a kill. Peterson, Hannah Rey (San Diego, Calif.) and Anisa Smith (Moraga, Calif.) each scored three kills in the opening frame.

The second set played out in similar fashion as the Owls slowly outscored UMass Lowell to carry a four point advantage to a 2-0 lead. Senior Lea Freeman (Methuen, Mass.) landed six kills and Peterson added four more as well.

The River Hawks led late in the third set, carrying 25-24 edge at set point, but couldn't stymie the Southern Connecticut St. attack as they surrendered four of the next five points. Peterson tallied five more kills and senior Trina Carroll (Hampton, N.H.) landed three, but the UMass Lowell offense struggled with a .137 attack percentage.

For the match, Peterson scored 12 kills and four digs. She was joined offensively by Freeman and Rey who each landed seven kills.

Setter Kristina Wiltjer (Temecula, Calif.) handed out 29 assists, dug 11 balls and scored a season-high six service aces. Lending a hand in the passing game, libero Carolyn Eddy (Dracut, Mass.) recorded a team-high 15 digs.

The River Hawks are now off until Tuesday, when they visit Easton, MA to play Stonehill College at 7 p.m.