Women's Volleyball Falls to Anna Maria 3-0

Photo by Ron Waite
Photo by Ron Waite

Lily Dy (Torrington, Conn.) dished out 26 assists and Melissa Manning (Milford, Conn.) registered a match-high 12 kills as the Albertus Magnus women's volleyball team fell to Anna Maria College 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in New Haven.

Anna Maria (9-11, 1-5 GNAC) won all three sets but not without a Falcon fight as the sets were close. The AMCats won the sets 25-22, 25-19, 25-20.

Jessica Goulet and Jacqueline Clinton led the AMCats with seven kills apiece, while Michelle Connolly had a match-high 16 digs.

The Falcons' leader in digs was sophomore Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) with 12 on the afternoon.  Leanna Velez (Waterbury, Conn.) added seven, while Manning and Dy had six each, respectively.  Freshman Caitlin Prete (Milford, Conn.) tallied seven kills to go along with five digs.  Amber Cohens (Hamden, Conn.) tallied seven kills in 20 tries.

Anna Maria jumped out to a 7-4 advantage in the first set as Alyssa Haberman notched back-to-back kills. After the Falcons cut the score to within one at 12-11, Anna Maria went on a 9-5 run to take a 21-16 lead.  The Falcons battled back again to make the score 23-21 on an Amber Cohens' kill but the AMCats used kills by Jessica Goulet and Clinton to secure the 25-22 victory.

Anna Maria jumped out in the second set, taking an early 3-1 lead. Play remained close and the Falcons took a 10-8 lead thanks to an Anna Maria miscue at the net.  With the score tied at 11, Anna Maria pulled ahead, taking a 16-11 lead on a kill by Goulet prior to an Albertus timeout.

Out of the break, the AMCats went on an 8-5 run to take a commanding 24-16 lead.  The Falcons got three-straight points to get to 19 before an attack error by the Falcons gave the AMCats the win.

In the final set, Albertus controlled play early on as the Falcons took a 7-3 lead out of the gate. The AMCats eventually tied the score at 11 before taking the lead.  With the score tied again at 15, Anna Maria pushed ahead to take a 19-16 lead then a Clinton kill gave her team a 22-18 advantage.  Anna Maria ended the match with a 5-2 run to take the 25-20 set victory.

Taylor DePalma (East Haven, Conn.) added two kills for the Falcons, while Puccilli had three assists.

Albertus will host Johnson & Wales (R.I.) on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.