Hawks take down Seahawks 3-1

BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University women's volleyball team posted its second Commonwealth Coast Conference victory of the season with a 3-1 victory over Salve Regina University Tuesday evening.

In the opening set, the Hawks came out on fire, logging six straight points leading to a Salve timeout. The Seahawks managed to cut it to one (8-9), but the Hawks came back with four consecutive points. After an RWU attack error, the Hawks tallied five more points in a row to take an 18-9 lead. Salve would rally and managed to cut it to two (21-23), but Molly Quilty (Duxbury, Mass.) connected on back-to-back kills to give RWU the opening set.

Salve Regina gained the upper hand in the beginning of the second set. The Seahawks began with three straight points and held a 7-2 lead. RWU pulled back in the match, making it 9-8 in favor of Salve. The turning point came with RWU trailing 13-10. The Hawks scored nine of the following ten points to take a 19-14 lead. RWU would hold on to the lead, with Meghan Smith (Blauvelt, N.Y.) notching the kill to give the Hawks the 25-19 win.

The following set was a back-and-forth battle throughout. For the game, there were 11 ties and six lead changes, while neither team led by more than three. The Seahawks had set point at 24-22 but RWU answered with three straight points to make it match point. After both team traded points, Salve Regina closed out with three consecutive tallies for the 28-26 win.

Roger Williams had a strong opening in the final set, beginning the game on a 6-1 run. Salve would pull within two (10-12) and eventually tie the set at 14 on a Cassidy Trabilcly (Phoenix, Ariz.) kill. Salve would tie the set again later at 18 apiece, but RWU scored five straight and would take the match 25-19 on a misplayed ball at the net by Salve.

Lara LoIacono (Lynbrook, N.Y.) went for 15 kills and 12 digs, while Quilty had 12 kills and four block assists. Julia Fields (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) had 34 assists, and Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill.) led RWU with 29 digs.

Annie Donahue (Chelmsford, Mass.) led the Seahawks with 18 kills, while Trabilcy had ten kills and ten digs. Samantha Salwa (Ellington, Conn.) had 24 assists and 21 digs for Salve

Roger Williams (8-6, 2-0 CCC) travels to Endicott on Saturday, while Salve Regina (5-8, 0-3 CCC) faces WPI on Thursday.