Senior captain Kirsten Arvidson hit .357 with a team-high 14 kills today.

Skyhawks win opening set before dropping three in a row

EASTON, Mass. (October 19, 2013) – The Stonehill College volleyball team erased a large deficit to win the opening frame, before dropping three consecutive sets to visiting LIU Post in a 3-1 (27-25, 14-25, 15-25, 20-25) defeat today in non-conference action at Merkert Gym.

Stonehill was led offensively by senior captain Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover), who compiled a team-high 14 kills while hitting .357, and sophomore Delia Phillips (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East), who was second on the team with nine kills. Freshman setter Taylor Stevens (Foster, R.I./Ponaganset) dished out 39 assists for the second consecutive contest, and also hit a match-best .667 and contributed eight digs on the defensive end. Senior captain Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutto) and classmate Jessica Frankowski (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) combined for 32 digs in Stonehill's loss.

Sophomore middle hitter Melissa Hansen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge) led the Pioneers with a .444 hitting percentage and match-best 19 kills, and senior middle blocker Makamae Namahoe (Hilo, Hawaii/Hilo) recorded a double-double of 16 digs and 11 kills, while hitting .320. Junior setter Lulu Centro (Rome, Italy) did a nice job of running LIU Post's offense, with 51 assists.

Stonehill trailed 20-13 in the opening frame, before roaring back to tie the set at 22 on a kill by sophomore Kelsey Weymouth (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro). The Skyhawks would eventually win the set, 27-25, to take a 1-0 advantage in the match. Stonehill fell behind in both the second and third frames, but was unable to mount any comeback, as LIU Post took control of the contest with a 2-1 set lead. In the final frame, the Skyhawks had the score as close as 22-20 in favor of the Pioneers, before LIU Post pulled away.

Stonehill (12-9, 4-2 NE-10) will look to snap its current two-match skid on Tuesday night when the Skyhawks travel to the University of Bridgeport in non-conference action. Stonehill returns to Merkert Gym one week from today, as the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University will be in Easton for a 1 p.m. match. The contest will also serve as the 2013 Dig Pink! Game for Stonehill. LIU Post (16-5, 6-2 ECC) returns home on Tuesday to take on Pace University, its second consecutive Northeast-10 foe.

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