BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team forced extra points in the first set, battled back to take the second, but eventually fell to Wellesley in four sets on Saturday at the Paolino Recreation Center, 3-1 (32-30, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17).
The Blue hit .181 on the day, while holding RWU to a 0.79 hitting percentage with 32 kills, 21 errors on 139 attempts. The Hawks had 12 service aces in the match to Wellesley's 10, while earning 11 blocks. Wellesley had 54 assists with 73 digs.
Peyton Felix (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) had six kills with 31 attempts, hitting 0.32, while Brianna Picchietti (Batavia, Ill.) had five kills with 14 attacks with a pair of errors. Emma Bosco (North Andover, Mass.) paced the offense with 15 assists, while Samantha Johnson (Richmond, Va.) and Ava McGonagle (Reading, Mass.) had six and five, respectively. Defensively, Marianna Hernandez (Norwalk, Conn.) had 16 digs with Kaylee Jackson (Naugatuck, Conn.) chipping in 11. Kaydence Fish (Bedford, N.H.) was in on eight blocks on the day, with Felix earning four block assists.
Else Kunze-Hoeg registered a triple-double, with 10 kills, 28 assists, and 19 digs in the match to lead the way for Wellesley. Logan Wilson had 11 kills with 18 attacks, and no errors for the Blue, hitting .611 with three digs, and a service ace, to pair with a pair of block assists. Noelle Winn had 18 assists, with 12 digs on a double-double, while also earning five kills while hitting .364.
With the Hawks up 24-22 in the opening set, Wellesley saw three straight points, capped off a service ace by Kaija Kunze-Hoeg. The Hawks leveled the score after a service error, as extra points were forced. The Hawks led 30-29 after a kill by Angela West (Riverview, Fla.), but the Blue responded with three straight points, two off of kills by Else Kunze-Hoeg to take the set.
The Hawks took control in the second, after jumping out to a 22-17 advantage in the later stages of the set, Wellesley tallied a pair of points, but the Hawks traded points during the final six to secure the win by four.
In the third set, the Hawks pulled within one after West's kill to make the set 19-18, but Wilson started a five-point run with a kill before capping off the set with a kill to end it 25-19. Wellesley held a 10-point lead 22-12, but the Hawks did not back down, rattling off four straight points, but it was not enough as Wellesley secured the win.
Wellesley now leads the all-time series 7-4, winning the past five meetings between the teams.
Roger Williams (3-8, 0-0 CNE) will open Conference of New England play on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7:00 pm at Curry, ahead of a Saturday, Sept. 27 match against UMass Boston at 1:00 pm.
Wellesley (5-4, 0-0 NEWMAC) will begin their conference slate on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 pm against Springfield, ahead of a Saturday, Sept. 27, matchup when Wheaton visits.
