NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – The Merrimack Women's Volleyball team secured a home NEC victory over Stonehill in a five set thriller.
The Basics
Score: Stonehill 1,
Merrimack 3
Records: Stonehill (2-25, 3-3),
Merrimack (7-16, 6-4)
How It Happened
A Friday night showdown was better than expected. The first set was a war between these two with Stonehill jumping out to a 12-5 lead due to a 6-0 run. The teams would share runs and the Skyhawks would be up 22-14. Merrimack would then score 5 unanswered to tighten it up before Stonehill scored the final three points to win 25-19.
The second set was all Warriors headlined by a 10-0 run and that would be all they needed. They would coast to a 25-15 victory to tie the match up at one a piece.
The third set would see a little bit of everything. The action was non stop with the teams trading leads, runs, and kills. This set was action packed. The Skyhawks were up late at 22-18 and looked poised to go up two sets to one. The Warriors would storm back and score 7 of the final 8 points to claim a 25-23 set three win and take advantage.
The Warriors would look to wrap up the match and win the fourth set. However, Stonehill had other plans. The Warriors could not get anything going as the Skyhawks took over with a sixteen to three run that would put them up big. The Skyhawks would go on to win and force a fifth and final set winning 25-15.
The fifth and final set is always a story and it was no different this go around. The set was tied at 6 before Merrimack had a burst of points to go up 9-6 forcing the hand of the Skyhawks with an imposing lead. The Warriors led 13-11 and scored the final two points. The last point came on a controversial call that took a challenge to get it overruled and pull out the Warriors win 15-11.
Notes and Numbers
- Cate Wright had 12 kills to lead the Warriors
- Julz Carlat paired 10 kills with her 15 digs
- Mia Ardila was outstanding with 34 assists, 12 digs, and 7 service aces
Up Next
The Warriors will play another midweek non conference game, this time on Hammel Court against UNH on Halloween night.
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