Easton, Mass. – Delia Phillips registered a double-double, including the final three kills of the match, to lead Stonehill College to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Le Moyne College volleyball team on Friday evening in Northeast-10 Conference action at Merkert Gymnasium.
After Stonehill won the fourth set to force the decisive fifth set, the Dolphins jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the final set before the Skyhawks countered with a 5-1 run of their own to knot the set at six. The Dolphins scored the next two points leading into the changeover, while Stonehill followed with another 5-1 run to take an 11-9 edge. Following back-to-back Le Moyne points to tie the set at 11, the teams traded the next nine points, with Stonehill having three chances to end the match. After the Skyhawks took a 16-15 lead, the Dolphins landed a kill and a block to take a 17-16 edge. Following a Stonehill timeout, Phillips registered three straight kills to give the Skyhawks the win, 19-17.
The Dolphins opened the match with five straight points and held a 12-9 lead before the Skyhawks recorded three consecutive points of the first tie of the match. After a tie at 14, Stonehill tallied six of the next nine points for a 20-17 advantage. The Dolphins answered back with six of the next eight points to take a 23-22 edge. Following ties at 23 and 24, the Dolphins took advantage of a Stonehill service error and then sophomore outside hitter
Natalie Casson (Kingman, Ariz./Kingman) ended the set with a kill.
After falling behind 3-1 in the second set, Stonehill registered a pair of 5-0 runs around a 2-0 Le Moyne spurt to take an 11-5 advantage. The Dolphins closed their deficit to 13-10 with three straight points, but Stonehill countered with a 12-6 streak to record a 25-16 win and tie the match at one win apiece.
Le Moyne regained the lead in the match with a 25-22 victory in the third set. Following back-and-forth play over the first 24 points of the set (13-11 Le Moyne lead), the Dolphins posted a 5-1 run to take their largest lead of the set. Stonehill crept back within 24-22, but the Dolphins got a kill from senior middle hitter
Kristen Willets (Apalachin, N.Y./Vestal) for the win.
Stonehill stayed alive in the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set. After the teams exchanged points over the first 23 points of the set (12-11 Stonehill edge), the Skyhawks recorded three consecutive points to take their biggest lead of the set and force a Le Moyne timeout. Following a Stonehill kill for a 17-14 advantage, the Dolphins posted three straight points to tie the set. After the Skyhawks regained the lead with three straight points, the Dolphins were able to get within one on three occasions, but committed an attack error to give the Skyhawks the win.
Senior setter
Megan Maisonet (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) directed the Le Moyne offense with a career-high 55 assists, while posting four blocks, two service aces and 12 digs for her 14th double-double of the campaign. With her first dig of the match, Maisonet became the second player in the program's history to record 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs (Danielle Cunningham '98 is the other). Sophomore middle hitter
Allegra Lee Bell (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) led the Dolphins offensively with a .424 hitting percentage and a career-high 17 kills, while adding six blocks and three digs. Sophomore outside hitter
Andrea Buchanan (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) registered a career-best 18 kills and seven digs, while Willets had 10 kills, three blocks and two assists. Casson recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 14 kills and a career high-tying 17 digs, while adding three blocks and two assists. Sophomore libero
Annie Stoklosa (Victor, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) led the Dolphins defensively with a career best-tying 25 digs, while adding three service aces.
Phillips led all players in the match with 25 kills, while recording 10 digs, two aces and two block assists. Katherine DeLanty hit .444 in the match on her way to 14 kills, while tallying six blocks. Mary-Kate Catton and Ashley Hitchcock registered 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Catton had seven blocks, six digs and two service aces and Hitchcock recorded nine digs and a pair of service aces. Emily Iverson registered a double-double with 58 assists and 12 digs, while posting two blocks. On the defensive side, Claire Manuszak (13), Mary Nelson (11) and Abby Harte (10) joined Iverson and Phillips with double-figure dig totals.
Le Moyne (10-12, 7-6 NE-10), which closes out the regular season on Saturday at Bentley University at 1:00 p.m., can clinch its first Northeast-10 Conference Championships bid since 2009 with a win over the Falcons. The Dolphins can also get the eighth seed if Franklin Pierce loses at Southern Connecticut State.
