BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team opened up the 2011 season with a win, defeating Eastern Connecticut State University 3-0 by the scores 25-11, 25-18, 25-20 to give first-year Head Coach Rob Mullowney his first win at the helm of the Hawks.

The match opened fairly even, as the Hawks took a slim 6-4 lead over the first ten points. Yet Roger Williams would pull away from Eastern Connecticut quickly, using a 14-3 run to take a 20-7 advantage. The Warriors had trouble attacking in the set, committing 12 hitting errors as the Hawks would go on to win 25-11.

began the second set on a 7-1 run, putting the Warriors in a hole that they could not climb out. ECSU pulled to within two to make it 6-8, but the Hawks would go on a 6-1 run helped in part of a pair of aces each by Marybeth Torpey (Quincy, Mass.) and Krystie Luczynski (Kensington, Conn.). Eastern Connecticut put a halt to a potential Hawk run on a stunning diving dig by Erynn Miller (Windham, Conn.), followed by another great pass by Taylor Abelli (Cheshire, Conn.) to Danielle Bourne (Branford, Conn.), who was able to just clear the net and find the floor to put ECSU within six (12-18). Yet the Hawks would hold on, scoring the final four points of the game to win 25-18.

The Warriors came on in the third set, taking their first lead of the match (4-3) on a bad set by the Hawks. The game would go on to be tied at three separate points of the match, the final knot making it 14-all. The Hawks would then go on a 5-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. ECSU came within three before Marliu Gonzalez-Yanez (Los Angeles, Calif.) netted two of the next three Hawk points on aces. Kelsey Twarog (Barkhamsted, Conn.) would put the match away via a 25-20 score on the Hawks' 14^th service ace of the night.

Luczynski led the Hawks with nine kills while Torpey added five kills and five service aces. Emily Lebowitz (Coventry, Conn.) handed out 22 assists, with Danna McDonald and Kelsee Loche (Millis, Mass.) chipping in with nine digs each.

Samantha Slonski (Griswold, Conn.) nearly finished with a triple-double, ending the night with nine kills, nine assists, and 13 digs—all team highs. Katie Wilson (Pittsburg, Calif.) added seven kills and eight digs, with Allie Henry (Middletown, Conn.) contributing eight assists and four digs.

Roger Williams (1-0) heads up to Springfield for the Springfield Invitation beginning Friday evening against the University of New England. ECSU (0-1) plays Western New England University tomorrow in the first match of the Wheaton College Invitational.