Clancy reaches milestone as Seahawks win fourth straight
NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University women's volleyball team captured their fourth straight victory with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-12) sweep of visiting Wheaton College at the Rodgers Recreation Center on Thursday night. The Seahawks have now won 12 consecutive sets to improve to 6-5 on the season, while the Lyons have dropped three in a row to fall to 2-11 overall.
Salve Regina junior Megan Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass.) recorded a match-high 18 digs en route to reaching the 1,000 career digs milestone. Clancy now ranks third on the program's all-time digs list after recently surpassing Brittany Canaff (971).
Freshman Taylor Violet (Tiverton, R.I.) paved the way for the Seahawks, leading all players with 36 assists on the night, while also adding seven digs and five kills. Freshman Jennifer Duggan (Merrimack, N.H.) also played well, recording a match-high 11 kills on just 13 attacks (.846 hitting percentage), while senior Julianne Barry (Randolph, Mass.) had 10 kills and five blocks in the win.
The Lyons were paced by the play of senior captain Emily Davisson (Carpinteria, Calif.) who had a team-high nine digs to go along along with three assists. Sophomore Lindsay Tebbetts (Gilmanton, N.H.) led Wheaton with five kills on the night, while junior Olanna Nissim (Greenwich, Conn.) had eight assists in the loss.
The Seahawks jumped out to an early 10-2 lead in the first set, receiving four kills from sophomore Jackie Cinquemani (East Islip, N.Y.) during the opening run.
The Lyons closed the gap to 10-4 with two consecutive points, however the Seahawks responded with a 15-5 run to close out the opening set, 25-9.
Both teams fought to gain control early in the second set, battling to an 11-all tie.
The Seahawks gave themselves some breathing room with a 6-3 run behind two kills and a block from Barry to build a 17-14 advantage.
The Lyons fought hard the rest of the way, but were never able to get back within closer than two points of the lead as the Seahawks held on for a 25-19 second set victory.
It was all Salve Regina early in the third frame, as the Seahawks got off to a 12-3 start capped by three consecutive aces from Barry.
The Lyons fought back with three straight points of their own to cut the SRU lead down to six, but that was a close as they came to tying the score the rest of the way.
The Seahawks went on to score nine of the final 11 points of the set, and closed the match with consecutive assisted blocks from sophomore Jill Diffendaffer (Centennial, Colo.) and freshman Tara Kuck (Huntngton Station, N.Y.).
The Lyons will look to bounce back in a tri-match with Roger Williams and Trinity this Saturday starting at 11:00 a.m., while the Seahawks will try to keep things rolling when they hit the road to face Rhode Island College on Saturday at noon.