DURHAM, N.H.. – The Merrimack College women's volleyball team split the day up at the University of New Hampshire, losing its first game against UNH and then beating St. Peter's University. Both Cate Wright and Julz Carlat had 16 kills in the two matches. Quinn Kellogg had 33 assists in the two games, which led the team. Avery Brown also chipped in with 12 kills in two games.
The Basics
(M1)Score: Merrimack 0 New Hampshire 3
(M2)Score: Merrimack 3 St. Peter's 0
Records: Merrimack (1-1-0) | New Hampshire (1-0) | St. Peter's (0-1)
Location: Durham, N.H.
Rapid Recap (M1)
- UNH went up three early on in the first set. Wright stopped the run at three with a kill, her first as a Warrior. A Wright kill tied the match at five. Both teams battled back and forth, the Warriors found themselves down just one 8-7. The Wildcats then went on a six point run to go up by seven. Carlat stopped the run with a kill. Kellogg had a kill to keep the Warriors down seven. Back-to-back kills by Brown and Carlat made it 22-15. Merrimack ended up losing the first set.
- The Wildcats started off out again scoring five straight points. Hannah Webber stopped the run with a kill. Merrimack scored four more points in a row to go down by just one. Merrimack went up by one, making the score 7-6. Both teams battled, the Warriors trying within three points of the Wildcats at all times. Brown had a kill to put Merrimack down by one, 15-16. UNH then scored seven straight points to go up by eight and ended up winning the set by seven.
- For the first time in the match, the Warriors started out on top by two. The Wildcats battled back, scoring three of their own going up by one. Merrimack went up 9-5 after scoring four straight points. An ace by Lauryn Mattiucci gave Merrimack a four-point lead. UNH then scored seven points in a row, going up three. A Megan Larson ace cut the lead to one. The Wildcats then scored five points to go up six, which ended up being enough of a margin to give them the win.
Rapid Recap (M2)
- St. Peter's jumped out to an early two point lead. Merrimack came back with three points of their own, highlighted by a Larson service ace. The Peacocks then took four points from the Warriors to go up three. Merrimack came back with three points of their own to tie the game. The Warriors scored eight points in a row to go up eight. St. Peter's bounced back going on a three-point run to cut the lead to six. The Peacocks got the lead to four, but was not enough to fend off Merrimack who won the set seven.
- In the second set, both team went back and forth to start. The Warriors then went on a 13 point run to go up by 13 points and take a commanding advantage. After a point by the Peacocks, Merrimack scored five more points, going up by 17 points. St. Peter's scored two points, but it was not enough to hold off the Warriors who were on a tear in the second set. The team from North Andover finished the set winning by 18. They were now up by two looking to finish the match in the third set.
- The Warriors were looking to keep momentum going heading into the third game and they did just that, jumping out to a five point lead. St. Peter's stopped the run, cutting the lead to six. Merrimack then scored five more points to go up by 11 and take a commanding lead. Merrimack did not let the Peacocks get within striking distance throughout the entire third set. Kellogg finished the match with a service ace, giving the Warriors their first win of the season.
Top Performers // Notes
- Both Wright and Carlat played their first two games in a Warrior uniform and led the team in kills.
- Three players had five aces in the two matches.
- Head coach Stephanie Kazmierczak earned her first victory as head coach.
Up Next
The Warriors will play Hartford tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.
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