WORCESTER, Mass. (September 28, 2024) - The Stonehill College volleyball split a pair of non-conference matches with Assumption University on Saturday at Andrew Laska Gymnasium. The Skyhawks won the first match in three sets before dropping the second in five sets.
 
MATCH 1: Stonehill 3, Assumption 0 (31-29, 25-19, 25-16)
 
Highlights

• Four different Skyhawks had at least 10 points in the three-set win, with senior Emma Graves (Vestal, N.Y.) leading the way as she scored 14.5 points on a season-high 12 kills, two solo blocks, and one block assist. Graves also recorded a season-high hit percentage of .435 as she notched her team-leading fifth game with 10+ points this year.
• Junior Mia Berardino (Rowley, Mass), sophomore Abby Farrell (Reading, Mass.), and freshman Paloma Gonzalez Jaramillo (Wylie, Texas) all scored 10 points for the Skyhawks as Farrell had an impressive 10 kills, no attack errors, and a .769 hit percentage.
• Berardino was perfect defensively, recording a career-high 18 digs to go along with 11 kills on the offensive end.
• Sophomore Amaya Parnell (Pepperell, Mass.) led Stonehill with 26 assists, the third-most of her career while notching two kills on three attacks.
• Sophomore Maddie Schamaun (Rockville, Md.) recorded 21 assists in the win, the second most of her career, and led the Skyhawks with three service aces.

 
SET 1 | Six consecutive scores in the early going gave the Skyhawks a 7-4 lead, with sophomore Georgia Murphy (Plano, Texas) notching two kills during the run. The Greyhounds tied it at 8-8, but Stonehill wouldn't give up its advantage as the two sides combined for 15 ties in the opening set. After keeping it close the whole set, Assumption took its first lead since being up 4-2 when the Greyhounds took a 23-22 lead. Stonehill regained the lead, 24-23, but Assumption matched the Skyhawks with two straight points, going up 25-24. Both teams went back and forth until Berardino rattled off three consecutive kills for the Skyhawks to win a high-scoring first set, 31-29.
 
SET 2 | Stonehill jumped out to an early lead in the second set, 10-6, but six of the next eight points went to the Greyhounds as they tied it up, 11-11. Stonehill came back with a run of their own as kills from Murphy, Gonzalez Jaramillo, and Farrell catapulted the Skyhawks to an 18-13 lead. Stonehill controlled the second set the rest of the way as Murphy capped off the frame with a kill to win 25-19.
 
SET 3 | The Skyhawks had control of the third set after breaking a 6-6 tie early, holding at least a two-score lead for the remainder of the set. Farrell and Graves each had four kills to lead Stonehill to a 25-16 win and an opening-match victory.
 
MATCH 2: Assumption 3, Stonehill 2 (25-20, 25-15, 14-25, 23-25, 13-15)
 
Highlights

• Berardino led Stonehill with 16 points and 15 digs while Graves and Gonzalez Jaramillo paced the Skyhawks with 13 kills each.
• Farrell chipped in ten kills, two aces, and two solo blocks with a team-high .529 hit percentage.
• Schamaun set a new career-high with 29 assists despite the loss. Her ten digs mark the sixth time she's reached double-digit digs on the defensive end this season while totaling two aces as well.
• Assumption was led by Anna Dean, who had ten kills for the Greyhounds, while Kaitlyn Mongomery, Lily LeDuc, and Alexis Distasio all had eight kills in the win. Marissa Krawczyk dished out 25 assists, and Barbara Illig totaled 29 digs to help the Greyhounds secure the win.

 
SET 1 | The Skyhawks carried their momentum from the first match into the first set of the second match, using a 6-1 run to leap in front, 14-9. Stonehill's biggest lead of the set would come after an ace from sophomore Sarah Frager (Mooresville, N.C.) that made the score 20-13. A late push from the Greyhounds cut the deficit from seven to four but it was too late as Berardino laid down a kill to win the opening frame, 25-20.
 
SET 2 | Despite Stonehill going ahead 6-1 in the opening minutes of the second set, Assumption tied the score at 7-7. The Greyhounds and Skyhawks remained knotted up, 10-10, when a 7-1 run from Stonehill gave them a six-point cushion, 17-11. A pair of kills from Gonzalez Jaramillo iced the set as Stonehill won 25-15.
 
SET 3 | The third set was all Assumption as the Greyhounds led for the entire frame. Stonehill would cut the Assumption lead to as close as three points, 12-9, but the hosts used a massive run of six straight points to put the set out of reach, eventually winning 25-14.
 
SET 4 | Just like the second set, Stonehill went up 6-1 in the early going, but once again, Assumption would tie the score, 8-8. The set was very back-and-forth as the Skyhawks went up three points in four different instances but the Greyhounds tied the score each time. After scoring three straight to tie it 22-22, Assumption scored three of the next four points to win the fourth set, 25-23, forcing a fifth and final set.
 
SET 5 | Two kills from both Graves and Gonzalez Jaramillo gave the Skyhawks a 5-3 lead in the deciding set. A kill from Farrell and another from Gonzalez Jaramillo made it 8-5 in favor of the Skyhawks, but Assumption rallied with three straight points to tie it 8-8. The score was tied three more times, but the Greyhounds used a pair of errors from the Skyhawks to win the match and the set, 15-13.
 
Up Next
Stonehill Volleyball is back home at Merkert Gymnasium next weekend for its Northeast Conference opener against Mercyhurst University on Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m.

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