Women's Volleyball 9/19/2013 8:49:00 PM

#25 Volleyball kicks off CCC play with win

Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. – The #25^th-ranked Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball registered its fourth straight Commonwealth Coast Conference opener win with a 3-0 victory over Curry College Thursday evening.

Roger Williams (14-0, 1-0 CCC) has not lost its CCC first of the year since the 2009 season, when the Hawks suffered a 1-3 setback to Western New England on September 19^th.

Curry (4-8, 0-1 CCC), in its fourth season of varsity competition, continues to search for its first CCC win since beginning conference play in 2011.

Curry struggled in the opening set, finishing the game with only one kill in 22 attempts. Conversely, the Hawks hit .269 in the set, tallying 11 kills on 26 attempts. The match was tied 3-3 early on before RWU pulled away slightly to go up 7-5. After a Colonel attack error, the Hawks rolled off an 11-0 run to take a commanding 19-5 lead. Ultimately, RWU would score six of the final seven points to take the set.

The second set saw much more competitive action between both teams. Neither squad was separated by more than three points for much of the majority of the early portion. Trailing by four, the Colonels were able to pull within one on three consecutive kills by Nicole Grambley (North Attleboro, Mass.) before the Hawks mounted a 9-1 run to take the set 25-16, powered by three kills from Katie Thieret (St. Louis, Mo.) over the span.

The third set saw RWU open with three straight points and continuing to hold Curry at bay. The Colonels made it a 4-5 game on a Grambley ace, but could not come closer. The Hawks stretched the lead to 18-6, including five points by Abby Gordon (Glastonbury, Conn.) on three kills and two aces. Roger Williams would eventually take the set 25-17 and the match.

"I thought our team did a good job serving," said Head Coach Ben Somera. "Sarah and Katie both had good runs where our defense was able to create good transition opportunities. I would like to see us make a few less hitting errors, but overall I thought our offense look good in all zones of the net."

Thieret finished with a career-high 15 kills on 21 swings with only one error. Sarah McAniff (Redding, Conn.) added six kills and three aces, with Emily Werth (Cheshire, Conn.) and Sydni Ulbarri (Apple Valley, Calif.) adding 13 and 12 digs, respectively. Nicole Weber (Poulsbo, Wash.) finished with a season-high 33 assists.

Grambley and Alyssa Keeney (Coventry, Conn.) each had four kills for Curry in the match. Hannah Robison (Cumberland, R.I.) added four assists and seven digs, while Lauren Gaffney (Wallingford, Conn.) led the team with 11 digs.

Roger Williams heads to Tufts on Saturday for a tri-match with the Jumbos and Wesleyan. Curry will be at MCLA for a tri-match with Bay Path College that same day.

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