Cain and Burke Post Career Nights as Women's Volleyball Surges Past Southern N.H., 3-1
Links: Highlights | Box Score | Tara Stuhr Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior Madison Burke (San Jose, Calif.) registered a season-high 40 digs and junior Jennifer Cain (Melrose, Mass.) posted a career-high 22 kills as the Merrimack College women's volleyball team defeated Southern New Hampshire, 3-1, on Friday night from Hammel Court. With the victory, the Warriors captured their second straight win and improved their Northeast-10 mark to 3-3 through six matches.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 3, Southern New Hampshire 1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-22, 25-9)
Records: Merrimack (8-9, 3-3 NE-10) | Southern New Hampshire (9-9, 4-2 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
Leading 9-7 early on the first set, the Warriors used a 4-0 run to build a 13-7 advantage, benefitting from three errors by the Penmen. After a kill from freshman Sofia Basauri (Beaverton, Ore.) gave Merrimack a 19-10 lead, the Penmen tallied six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to five points, but the Warriors answered with a 4-1 spurt to end the frame, capped off by consecutive kills from Cain.
It appeared the Navy and Gold would race away with the second set, as the Warriors began on a 5-0 run that included two more kills from Cain. Later on the frame with Merrimack up by three, the Penmen used a 5-1 run to take their first lead of the set at 13-12. The teams exchanged points after that, with the Warriors holding a late 21-20 lead, but the visitors collected five unanswered points to take the second set.
Merrimack surged forward in the final two games. Trailing 5-3 in the third set, the Warriors embarked on a 8-3 run to build a seven-point lead, 13-6. Sophomore Mary Kate McCarroll (Harrison, Ohio) started a stretch of seven unanswered points for two straight kills. The Penmen pushed back late, making it a one-point frame at 21-20, but Cain stepped up with three straight kills to help Merrimack take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Warriors ended the match with an exclamation point, going on a 10-0 run to conclude the contest. After an attacking error made it 15-9, the Warriors did not allow the visitors to win another point. Merrimack collected seven combined kills from Cain and junior Juliette McCall (Torrance, Calif.), including the match-clincher from the latter, as a 25-9 set victory secured the match for the hosts.
Burke's defensive prowess limited the Penmen's ability to comeback. She averaged 10 digs per set, including 24 total digs over the final two frames, to keep momentum on Merrimack's side.
The Warriors have now won two straight matches for the first time in 2015, and have won four of their last six matches overall.
Inside The Numbers
- For the first time this season and only the second time in her career, Burke reached the 40-dig plateau. The total eclipses her previous season high of 37 as she fell six digs short of her career high of 46 set as a sophomore, which also came in a match against the Penmen
- Cain's 22 kills set a new career and were the most any Warrior put up this season. The total also pushed the captain's season mark to 193, setting a new personal best. As a sophomore, Cain finished with 173 kills and now has increased her kill total in each of her first three seasons.
- Junior Tara Stuhr (Huntington Beach, Calif.) facilitated the offense with 51 assists, and added 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Cain added 13 digs to join Stuhr in the doubling-up department
- McCarroll added 11 digs, while McCall contributed 10, to join Cain in double figures
Up Next
Merrimack travels up to Rindge, N.H. on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. league match against the Ravens.
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