HACKENSACK, N.J. (September 24, 2022)- The Stonehill College women's volleyball team continued their Northeast Conference road trip with a matchup at Fairleigh Dickinson University where the Skyhawks fell, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 26-24) Saturday afternoon at the Rothman Center. 

Mia Berardino led the offensive attack with 10 kills on the day. Her 10 kills marked a new career-high and marked the seventh time this year she finished with five or more kills. In three out of her last four matches, the freshman outside hitter has posted at least nine kills. Not far behind was Jentry Allen with eight kills as she has eclipsed five or more kills in all but three matches this year. Delaney Mihelich guided the Skyhawks offense with a career-high, 26 assists which topped her previous high of 17. Her 26 assists were the highest in a match since Lauren Wilke had 35 assists last season at Southern Connecticut State University (Nov. 13). Defensively, Kristen DeLorenzo finished with 10 digs which marked the sixth time this season she finished with 10 or more digs.

Stonehill jumped out to an early 5-2 lead thanks to two kills from both Allen and Berardino. Despite the early lead, the Knights bounced back and evened the set at six. Fairleigh Dickinson pushed their lead to four (13-9) courtesy of a 7-3 run. However, the purple and white responded and tied the opening frame at 13 highlighted by another kill from Berardino. From there, the Knights grabbed their largest lead of the set (25-18) and ultimately wrapped up the first set with a 12-5 burst of offense. In the first set, Berardino, led the offense with three kills whereas Allen and Kaitlyn Watson each had two kills themselves. 

The second set saw the Knights get out to a quick 9-3 lead and after going up 10-4, the Stonehill offense surged back and tied the frame at 11 courtesy of a 7-1 rally spearheaded by two kills from Lauren McCloskey and Watson, Amanda Maier each chipped in one kill apiece. After Fairleigh Dickinson pushed their lead up to four (16-12), Berardino notched another kill which knocked the deficit to three (16-13). The Knights would go on and double their lead (21-15) and while it seemed like they would pull away, Stonehill did not go quiet as the Skyhawks cut the deficit to three again (21-18) highlighted by a DeLorenzo service ace. However, the Knights held off a late Skyhawks push and would ultimately take set two, 25-21. 

The Skyhawks offense got off to another quick start as the purple and white went up 9-3 spearheaded by two Bianca Fitch service aces and kills from Allen, Berardino, and McCloskey. Fairleigh Dickinson cut the lead to five (10-5), but Stonehill grabbed their largest lead of the set (15-8) when the squad had a 5-3 spurt highlighted by kills from four different Skyhawks (McCloskey, Maier, Berardino, and Hannah Kemmerer). After a Mihelich kill made it 18-12, the Knights pushed back and found themselves down two (23-21) thanks to an 11-3 rally. Later in the set, Fairleigh Dickinson recaptured the lead by a score of 24-23 and after a Knights attack error tied things at 24, Fairleigh Dickinson secured the sweep when they took the next two points (26-24). 

Up Next

Stonehill has a break from conference play when they travel to the University of Hartford on Wednesday, September 28 at 7 p.m.

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