Lowell Rallies for 3-2 Victory over Volleyball
LOWELL, MA – Behind three double-doubles, the Merrimack
volleyball team built a 2-0 lead over its cross town rival UMass
Lowell only to see the River Hawks storm back for the 3-2 victory
in non-conference action Saturday afternoon.
Game scores were 24-26, 21-25, 30-28, 25-14 and 15-10.
Merrimack captured the first set, scoring the final four points,
with Natalee Yeazle
(Blaine, MN) serving an ace at 25-24 and forcing a Lowell
attack error for the set-clinching point.
The Warriors overcame a 12-4 second-set deficit, rattling off
seven straight points to take a 16-15 lead with four different
players notching kills in the run, including two from Yeazle.
After a thrilling third set that saw Merrimack overcome two set
points only to fall 30-28, the River Hawks controlled the fourth,
notching seven straight points to lead 20-10 before closing it out
at 25-14.
Lowell built an 8-3 fifth set lead, but the Warriors fought
back, picking up four straight points with Molly Cindric
(Westlake Village, CA) serving, including two kills from
Nicole Duarte
(Windham, NH) to cut the lead to 8-7. After Jenna Reilly
(Northport, NY) tied it with a kill at nine, the River
Hawks regrouped, netting the next four points and held on for the
15-10 victory, closing the match out with an ace from Vicky
Wong.
Yeazle recorded her first career double-double, picking up 11
kills and 16 digs to go with eight assists. Cindric also recorded a
double-double on ten kills and 15 digs, while Duarte registered a
career-high 12 kills but committed 11 attack errors. Elyse Lorenz
(Frankfurt, IL) also picked up a double-double with a
team-high 23 assists to go with 13 digs.
The Warriors were inconsistent offensively, committing 33 attack
errors and only hit .129, including .000 in the final two sets.
For the River Hawks, Sarah Coscia led the way 23 kills and did
not make an attack error, hitting .479 overall. Lea Freeman (10
kills) and Wong (17 kills) were also in double-digits for Lowell's
offensive attack. The hosts also had eight team blocks, to just one
for the Warriors.
"Overall, we are happy with the team's intensity and effort,"
said head coach Joey Pacis. "We put ourselves in a position to
win the match; however, we let opportunities to close it out. pass
us by. We expect that as the season progresses, our team will learn
to seize easy chances to score."
Merrimack (1-1) opens conference play at American
International Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Yellow Jackets eliminated the
Warriors from postseason contention last season defeating Merrimack
in straight sets in North Andover.
