BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team began Commonwealth Coast Conference play Tuesday evening with a 3-0 win (25-13, 25-18, 25-13) over Eastern Nazarene College.

Eastern Nazarene scored the first two points of the match, the latter of which via a service ace by Gina Anderson (Barrington, R.I.). Yet the Hawks would answer with a 9-2 run to take a five-point lead. With the Hawks on top by a 12-6 score, RWU rolled off six straight points to take a commanding 19-6 advantage. Marilu Gonzalez-Yanez (Los Angeles, Calif.) would eventually put the set away with a service ace, making the score 25-13 in favor of RWU.

The second set saw a tight battle between both teams. Although the Hawks led for a majority of the set, Eastern Nazarene continued to hang around, keeping the score within five points for most of the game. Back-to-back aces by Kaitlyn Yoder (Smithsburg, Md.) brought the Lions to within two (10-12). They would later make it an 18-16 game before the Hawks closed the game on a 7-2 run, capped by a kill by Danna McDonald (Santa Monica, Calif.) to give RWU the 25-18 win.

In the third set, the Hawks led wire-to-wire, starting off with a kill by Holly Hancock (Tilton, N.H.). The RWU point began an 8-2 run to open the third game. Eastern Nazarene would eventually come back to make it a three-point game (8-11), but the Hawks would not allow the Lions to get any closer. RWU took its largest lead of the game on three consecutive service aces by Gonzalez-Yanez to put the Hawks up 23-10. A Lion attack error would give the match to RWU, ending the set 25-13.

McDonald, Hancock, and Krystie Luczynski (Kensington, Conn.) each tied for the team lead with eight kills each. Neither Hancock nor McDonald had an attack error, with Hancock swinging .727 (8-0-11) and McDonald finishing at .615 (8-0-13). Emily Lebowitz (Coventry, Conn.) dished out 24 assists, while Gonzalez-Yanez finished with five service aces.

Birdina Tuiava (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led Eastern Nazarene with five kills and seven assists while hitting .556 (5-0-9). Yoder added 11 digs, while Leann Williams (Oxford, Pa.) finished with two blocks.

Roger Williams (11-3, 1-0 CCC) goes to Clark Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. match, while Eastern Nazarene (6-5, 1-1 CCC) travels to Suffolk at the same time.