Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. - The Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team opened the RWU Invitational with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-20) victory over Western Connecticut State University Friday evening.
 
The opening set was a neck-and-neck battle between both teams, evidenced by 11 ties and seven lead changes. Neither team led by more two points for most of the set. The tide turned in the Colonials' favor with the score tied at 17. Western Connecticut State scored six of the next seven points, thanks in part to four attack errors by the Hawks. Danielle Kaminsky (Southington, Conn.) put away the final point to give the Colonials the 25-20 win.
 
The Hawks would bounce back in the second set, opening with three straight points. They would eventually build the lead to an 11-4 advantage, capped by a block assist from Kristen Boyer (Ephrata, Pa.) and Molly Quilty (Duxbury, Mass.). WCSU managed to pull back within three (9-12), yet the Hawks stormed back with a 10-5 run to take a 22-13 lead, their largest of the set. Quilty would tally the set-winning kill to lift RWU to a 25-15 win and tie the match at one.
 
In the third set, the Hawks jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, helped in part by four Colonial errors. Western Connecticut State would not be deterred, eventually pulling back within one (10-11). RWU would score three straight points to force a Colonial timeout, then another timeout at 18-14. The Hawks maintained at least a four-point advantage over the remainder of the set, eventually taking the game 25-20.
 
The fourth set saw the Colonials notch the first two points of the game before the Hawks ripped off an 11-1 run to go on top by eight (11-3). That run would put Western Connecticut State in a hole that the team would not be able to climb out of. The Colonials never came closer than four from that point, with RWU's Grace Kenningham (Houston, Texas) logging the winning point.
 
Quilty led all players with 19 kills as well as nine total blocks (six solo, three assist). Boyer added 13 kills and 13 digs, while Maria Batas (Merrick, N.Y.) finished with 25 digs. Julia Fields (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) handed out 48 assists for the Hawks.
 
Karissa Smith (Bristol, Conn.) led the Colonials with 13 kills, while Cady Cordes (Fallon, Nev.) finished with seven kills and 15 digs. Kaminsky notched a double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs.
 
Roger Williams (9-4) will face Coast Guard and Johnson & Wales on the second day of the tournament. Western Conn. St. (9-6) plays the University of New England and Coast Guard as well.