NEWPORT, R.I. – At the end of a windy day in Rhode Island, the Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team provided one last gust as they breezed past in-state rival Salve Regina University, 3-0, on Wednesday night at the Rodgers Recreational Center. The Hawks held the Seahawks to a meager .008 hitting percentage thanks in large part to the 11 total blocks they recorded as a team including nine of the solo variety.
 
With the win, RWU has now been on the winning end of 17 of the last 19 matchups against Salve Regina and get back to .500 overall with a record of 9-9, 7-1 against Commonwealth Coast Conference opponents and in the process, they are now locked into the second seed when they begin the CCC Tournament next week. The Seahawks, meanwhile, fall to 13-9 overall this fall, 5-3 in conference play.
 
Katherine Pickard (St. Petersburg, Fla.) led all players with 16 kills to extend her streak of matches with double-digit kills to 14. She did so by hitting at a .205 rate while also adding seven digs. Tori Melanson (North Attleboro, Mass.) stuffed the box score with six kills, two service aces, five total blocks, and a career-high four solo blocks. Kristen Dansereau (Killingworth, Conn.) pitched in seven kills while Kate Porter (Killingworth, Conn.) led all players with 31 assists. Defensively, Jaime Gaffga (Mattituck, N.Y.) and Kate Grabowski (Hebron, Conn.) led the way with 16 and 12 digs respectively.
 
Madison Lee (Dover, Fla.) led the hosts with nine kills while Nicole Karabaich (Greenlawn, N.Y.) pitched in eight kills and two aces. Katelyn O'Brien (Bridgeport, Pa.) led Salve Regina with 23 assists and Kate Murphy (Dover, N.H.) led the Seahawks with 14 digs.
 
Hawk Highlights
Katherine Pickard: 16 kills, 7 digs, 1 solo block, 1 block assist
Tori Melanson: 6 kills, 2 digs, 4 solo blocks, 1 block assist, 2 service aces
Kate Porter: 31 assists, 5 digs, 2 kills, 1 service ace 1 block assist, 1 solo block
Jaime Gaffga: 16 digs, 1 kill
 
For The Opponents
Madison Lee: 9 kills, 11 digs, 1 assist, 1 service ace
Nicole Karabaich: 8 kills, 6 digs, 1 assist, 2 service aces
Katelyn O'Brien: 1 kill, 7 digs, 23 assists, 1 service ace
Kate Murphy:  14 digs, 1 assist, 1 service ace
 
How It Happened
The first set was a see-saw affair, but we will pick it up with Salve Regina holding a 14-10 edge following kills from Madison Lee (Dover, Fla.) and Brighton Solheim (Phoenix, Ariz.) leading into a Roger Williams timeout. The Hawks came out of the break on fire, rattling off five consecutive points and seven of eight thanks to a pair of kills from Katherine Pickard (St. Petersburg, Fla.), a kill from Jaime Gaffga (Mattituck, N.Y.), a service ace from Kate Porter (Killingworth, Conn.), and a few errors from the hosts to claim a 17-15 edge. When the score advanced to 19-17, the Seahawks struck back with four straight points to grab the lead 21-19 heading into another RWU timeout. Once again, after talking it over, the Hawks seized control with a 6-2 stretch that featured a trio of kills from Pickard to grab the first set 25-23.
 
Pickard piled up six kills in the first stanza including the last one to claim the set but the team as a whole hit quite effectively with 15 kills. The Seahawks on the other hand scuffled hitting the ball at an even .000 clip with eight kills and attacking errors in the frame.
 
The second set once again saw Salve Regina claim an early lead, 10-8, but then the Hawks took over. Eight consecutive points including back-to-back solo blocks by Jasmine Babbitt (Charlestown, R.I.) with three more kills from Pickard mixed in gave the guests momentum and a 16-10 advantage. Salve would not be deterred however as they rode a 6-1 stretch out of a timeout to get within one at 17-16. The squads traded points in solos and pairs until RWU held a 22-21 lead. From there Tori Melanson (North Attleboro, Mass.) took control with a 3-0 run of her own. The senior collected a solo block, a kill, and then another block, this time combined with Porter to lift Roger Williams to a 25-21 win in the second set.
 
The Hawks really had their blocking game working in the second stanza as they collected six blocks including five of the solo variety while they continued to hit well with 11 kills. Pickard led the way with five kills in the set, but she got a lot of help as Melanson was responsible for five points on four total blocks and a kill, Babbitt added three points on a kill and a pair of blocks, and Kristen Dansereau (Killingworth, Conn.) pitched in three kills of her own. It was also in this set where Lee did much of her damage with five kills for the Seahawks.
 
The third set lacked the drama that the first two frames featured. Roger Williams grabbed an early 10-6 lead before burying the hosts with a 14-4 stretch with the team getting contributions from all over the floor as five different players recorded a kill during the run. Melanson had a pair of kills, Pickard had two of her own along with a solo block while Dansereau, Babbitt, and Allie Welch (Marlborough, Conn.) all contributed one each and Kate Grabowski (Hebron, Conn.) tacked on a service ace. With RWU firmly in the driver's seat with a 24-10 advantage, Salve Regina did go on a 5-0 stretch to get the score more respectable, but then a kill from Porter concluded the set, 25-15, and the match 3-0.
 
RWU controlled the stanza with their superior hitting. They only made one attacking error in the set while piling up 13 kills and hitting at a robust .308 clip. It was a different story for the hosts however as for the second time in the match, they had a hitting percentage of .000 after recording eight kills and eight attacking errors.
 
Overall, the Seahawks had more service aces, 6-4 and the two squads were even with 50 digs a piece but the RWU blockers gave Salve Regina fits all night sending back 11 attacks against three for the hosts. Roger Williams was also more efficient, outhitting the Seahawks .186-.008 and in the process piled up 39 kills against 28 for Salve Regina.
 
What's Next
Roger Williams (9-9) heads to Gordon College (13-9) on Saturday for their regular season finale as they look to extend their three-game winning streak and build their momentum entering postseason play. Start time is set for 2:00 PM.
 
Salve Regina (13-9) will also wrap up their regular season with a showdown against Suffolk (11-15) on Saturday at 1:00 PM.