Senior Mary-Kate Catton recorded five block assists tonight, becoming the program's all-time leader with 260 in her career.

Senior Mary-Kate Catton becomes program's all-time block assists leader with 260

EASTON, Mass. (October 21, 2014) – Freshman middle blocker Katherine DeLanty (Smithtown, New York/Smithtown West) hit a team-best .529 with ten kills and a season-high seven block assists as Stonehill College earned a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-18) victory over visiting Merrimack College this evening in Northeast-10 Conference volleyball action at Merkert Gymnasium.

Stonehill posted a .232 attack clip and racked up nine team blocks in a rematch of last season's NE-10 Championship semifinal that Merrimack won, 3-1. The Skyhawks, who have now registered three consecutive three-set victories, also improved their record at home to 7-0 with tonight's triumph.

Senior middle blocker Mary-Kate Catton (San Diego, California/Academy of Our Lady of Peace) recorded five block assists to become the program's all-time leader with 260 in her career, surpassing the mark of 257 set by Kirsten Arvidson, '14, last season. Catton also chipped in with six kills and two digs.

Junior outside hitter Delia Phillips (St. James, New York/Smithtown East) turned in her ninth double-double of the season with 12 digs and 10 kills, while senior setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Illinois/York) tallied a match-high 34 assists to go with seven digs.

Junior Delia Phillips posted her ninth double-double of the season with 12 digs and ten kills in Stonehill's 3-0 win over Merrimack.

Senior middle blocker Meaghan Lee (Hanover, Massachusetts/Notre Dame Academy) contributed nine kills, and junior outside hitter Kelsey Weymouth (North Attleboro, Massachusetts/North Attleboro) added six kills, four digs, two block assists, and a match-high three service aces.

Defensively, freshman Claire Manuszak (Indianapolis, Indiana/Bishop Chatard) tallied ten digs, while sophomore Taylor Stevens (Foster, Rhode Island/Ponaganset) finished with seven.

Merrimack junior outside hitter Stephanie Sheehan (Smithtown, New York/St. Anthony's), who entered tonight's contest leading the NE-10 with 4.25 kills per set, paced the Warriors with 12 kills and 13 digs.

Sophomore setter Tara Stuhr (Huntington Beach, California/Huntington) totaled 22 assists, and senior middle blocker Corrine Gosselin (Lawrence, Massachusetts/Central Catholic) added nine kills and four digs.

Stonehill came out of the gates tonight with a .243 hitting percentage in the opening set, compared to Merrimack's .073 clip. The Skyhawks trailed 8-4 early in the frame, but eventually evened the score at nine. Stonehill won ten of the next 14 points to go up 19-13, and the Warriors were unable to draw closer than four points after that run. Leading 24-19, Iverson ended the first set in Stonehill's favor with her only kill of the night.

DeLanty

The Skyhawks took control with a four point lead early in the second set (10-6), but the Warriors chipped away at the deficit slowly, eventually pulling even at 18. The set would be tied again one more time, at 20, before Stonehill posted a four-point run to go up 24-20. After three straight Merrimack points cut the Warriors deficit to one (24-23), Stonehill closed out the set on a kill by Lee.

Stonehill turned its best attack clip of the night (.290) in the third frame, a set the Skyhawks would never trail in. Stonehill again led 10-6 early, but Merrimack fought back to even it up at 11. The set would see two more ties until a kill by Weymouth sparked a 3-0 run to give the home team a 16-13 advantage, a lead they would not relinquish. The Warriors pulled to within one (16-15) on a service ace by Sheehan, but the Skyhawks subsequently went on a 7-0 run to take control of the set and the match. Merrimack added two more points before Phillips capped off Stonehill's third straight sweep with her tenth kill of the match.

Following this evening's contest, Stonehill (17-4, 8-1 NE-10) is set to host the University of New Haven on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Merrimack (10-7, 4-5 NE-10) will also be back in action on Saturday with a pair of matches at Southern Connecticut State University. The Warriors are scheduled take on Molloy College at 1 p.m. before facing the Owls at 3 p.m.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.