Sept. 2, 2011 Box Score

UMass Lowell volleyball jumped out to an early 2-1 lead, but couldn't hold on as it fell in five sets during Friday night's season opener at Queens College.

The River Hawks slip to 0-1 with the opening night loss. UMass Lowell was selected to finish seventh in the Northeast-10 Preseason Poll after a 15-12 campaign in 2010. The Knights jump out to 1-0 with the win. Queens was picked to finish fifth in the eight team East Coast Conference following a 9-16 record last season.

The match scores were 25-16, 16-25, 25-16, 13-25 and 13-15.

"We did some good things and we did some not so good things," said head coach Karen McNulty. "We got a good look at our players and we're still working on figuring out who we like where. Overall we played good defense, dug a lot of balls and were aggressive at the net."

The River Hawks won the first and third set to take a 2-1 advantage due to solid play from middle-hitter Lea Freeman (Methuen, Mass.) who knocked down nine kills. Setter Kristina Wiltjer (Temecula, Mass.) also got off to a strong start with 21 assists.

In the 25-16 win in set three, freshman Anisa Smith (Moraga, Calif.) played a large role in the momentum shift. The rookie served the River Hawks to six straight points, highlighted by a pair of aces.

Despite the advantage, the Knights took sets four and five by a combined 14 points to win the match.

Freeman finished with a match-high 14 kills, while adding nine digs and four blocks. Also playing a key role in the offense was freshman Hannah Rey (San Diego, Calif.) who totaled seven kills and a team-best 22 digs in her collegiate debut. Fellow rookie Ella Merrill (Bermuda Dunes, Calif.) chipped in five kills and four digs.

Distributing the ball, Wiltjer finished with a double-double of 32 assists and 14 digs.

The River Hawks won't have to wait long to get back on the court as they visit Bridgeport on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest with the Purple Knights.