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SAN JOSE, Calif. – The UMass Lowell Volleyball team earned a 3-0 sweep in its season opener against Manhattan on Friday night at Spartan Gym in the opening match of the Spartan Invitational. The set scores were 25-17, 25-17 and 25-21.

Freshman outside hitter Madi Bell (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) totaled a team-high nine kills in her first collegiate match for the River Hawks to go along with a .368 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Lauren Bennett (Wilmington, Mass.) and junior outside hitter Masha Yelsukova (St. Petersburg, Russia) chipped in with eight and seven kills, respectively. Yelsukova's .600 hitting percentage was a match-high.

"I could not be more proud of how the team came out and played the whole match, point for point," said UMass Lowell Head Coach Resa Provanzano. "They were able to stay focused on our side of the net, play with a great deal of passion and contribute to a very fun victory."

Freshman outside hitter Katherine Claybaugh (Danville, Calif.) tallied five kills and 12 digs in her collegiate debut for UMass Lowell.

Sophomore Delaney Mendez (Phoenix, Ariz.) started the match at setter for the River Hawks and notched 16 assists, while senior Alexa Toth (Portland, Ore.) also saw action with 15 helpers.

Sophomore libero Lindsey Visvardis (Homer Glen, Ill.) recorded eight digs in the season opener for the River Hawks on the defensive side of the court.

UMass Lowell registered a match-high 14 kills in the first set and 12 kills to go along with a .400 hitting percentage in set two.

The River Hawks found themselves down 7-1 to open the third set, but they got right back in the game on some strong serving runs from Megan Young (Westlake Village, Calif.) and Visvardis. Visvardis totaled a match-high four service aces, while Toth finished the match with three aces.

UMass Lowell returns to action in the final day of the Spartan Invitational on Saturday with a 4:30pm match against host San Jose and a 7pm match against Providence.