Erin Johnson tallied 15 kills as the Skyhawks won their first home match of the season. (PHOTO BY Robert Klein)

Maxey, Johnson lead charge for Skyhawks at home

EASTON, Mass. (September 22, 2010) – The Stonehill College volleyball team came away with the victory in their first home matchup of the season, beating Merrimack College 3-1 (20-25, 26-24, 32-30, 27-25) in a Northeast-10 match on Wednesday.

Freshman Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutto), junior Laura Huselton (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield), and senior Erin Johnson (Centerville, Mass./Barnstable) each put down double figures in kills to lead the Skyhawk offense, and senior Andrea Wirth (Mesa, Ariz./St. Mary's) tallied 38 assists. Senior Justine Thompson (Merrimack, N.H./Bishop Guertin) led Stonehill with 25 digs, followed by 24 from Maxey.

The Warriors got double figures in kills and digs from senior Molly Cindric (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian) and sophomore Shaunda Forcier (Gonic, N.H./Spaulding), and 47 assists from senior Elyse Lorenz (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East).

After Merrimack won the first set 25-20, Stonehill rebounded to take the second with a late rally. Facing a 19-16 deficit, the Skyhawks stormed back with a kill from Johnson and four straight points on Erin Kelly’s (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) serve, and held on for a 26-24 set victory. The back-and-forth third set stretched to a final score of 32-30, in a game that was tied sixteen different times. Maxey and Huselton led the offensive effort with two kills apiece late in the set, and Stonehill took the final two points on Merrimack attack errors.

With the Skyhawks leading 23-20 in the final set, the Warriors responded with four unanswered points to extend the game. Maxey put down two kills to give the Skyhawks a one-point advantage, and the game ended on a rotation error by Merrimack.

Stonehill (3-6, 1-0 NE-10) hits the road for the next two games, playing at Saint Anselm at noon on September 25 and at Bentley on September 28 at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks will return home for an Alumni Weekend matchup with Bridgeport on October 2 at 1:30 p.m.

Press play below for postgame interviews with Sydney Maxey, Erin Johnson, and head coach Lauren Amundson.