Volleyball Falls In Home Opener To Southern New Hampshire, 3-1
North Andover, Mass. – The Merrimack women's volleyball team was downed on Tuesday night at Bert Hammel Court by the Southern New Hampshire Penmen by the score of 3-1. With the loss Merrimack drops to 2-6 on the season while the Penmen improve to 7-4.
"The team played well at times tonight but we allowed them to go on too many runs over the course of the match," said head coach TJ Hajjar. "Shaunda (Forcier), Brianna (Trabucco) and Stephanie (Sheehan) all played well tonight but defensively we just weren't consistent enough."
Game scores against Southern New Hampshire: 22-25, 25-19, 18-25, 18-25.
Leading the way offensively for the Warriors was sophomore Stephanie Sheehan (Smithtown, NY) as she racked up her team-high third double-double of the young season with 20 kills and 14 digs in the defeat. Brianna Trabucco (Canton, Mass.) continued her solid play picking up her second double-double as she racked up a game-high 41 assists and 10 digs. Senior Jenna Reilly (Northport, NY) was consistent all night as she racked up 10 kills, seven blocks and six digs while fellow senior Shaunda Forcier (Gonic, NH) also racked up double digit kills with 10.
The Warriors jumped out to the early 13-7 lead in the first set after a big kill from Sheehan after a perfect assist from Trabucco. However the Penmen would go on a 13-7 run of their own to draw the opening set even at 20. The Penmen had two consecutive service aces but they were able to hang on to win the first set 25-22.
The second set was evenly played by both squads early on as the score was 11-11 nearly half way through. Merrimack however would go on a 12-5 run to take a hold of the second set. The Warriors took the 25-19 victory after a kill by Reilly. Forcier dominated the set finishing with a set-high 5 kills while Trabucco recorded 12 assists.
Merrimack fell behind early in the third set and they were not able to climb their way back into the match as they fell by the score of 25-18.
The Warriors fell behind once again in the final set before Forcier came through with a big kill to tie the game at eight. The Penmen however would go on a 10-4 run to take the 18-12 advantage later in the set. The Warriors had a late 4-0 run to try and force a fifth set but they were upended by the Penmen by the score of 25-18.
The Penmen were led by Erica Solomon who recorded a team-high 17 kills and 15 digs in the victory. Emma Houlihan also finished the game with double figure kills with 10 while setter Catherine Cotton finished with a team-high 32 assists and six digs. Kendra Mikuta finished with a team-high 14 digs in the win.
Merrimack (2-6, 0-0 NE-10) will return home for a non conference matchup with LIU Post on Friday, September 21. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
