Box Score JERSEY CITY, NJ – After falling behind 2-1, the Saint Peter's University women's volleyball team rallied to claim a 3-2 (25-21, 13-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12) match victory in its home opener over Delaware State University on Wednesday night at the Yanitelli Center.
Match Notes
- Saint Peter's jumped out to an 8-5 advantage behind five team kills with Alanis Alvarado leading the way with two successful attacks.
- Delaware State responded with five straight points to take a 10-8 lead over the Peacocks.
- The Peacocks quickly answered, outscoring the Hornets 7-2, to take the lead at 15-12.
- The set would see ties at 15 and 17 before Saint Peter's took advantage of five errors by Delaware State to close out the set with a 25-21 win.
- The second set began in familiar territory, as the Peacocks went up by a similar 8-5 tally.
- But Delaware State dominated the rest of the way in the second stanza, using a 20-5 run to take the set by a 25-13 final margin.
- Set three was packed with back-and-forth action from start to finish, featuring six ties, eight lead changes and no lead larger than four points for either team.
- The Peacocks went ahead by a slim 22-20 margin after Alvarado put down here 10th kill of the match. But the Hornets scored four unanswered and never relinquished the lead, closing out the set, 25-23, to take a 2-1 lead over the hosts.
- With their backs against the wall, Saint Peter's controlled the fourth set nearly in its entirety to force the match to go the distance. The Peacocks only trailed three points into the set at 1-2 and never surrendered the lead once taken at 3-2 after a service ace by Karla Seda.
- However, it wasn't all smooth sailing; the Peacocks faced a scare when Delaware State scored four straight to cut the hosts' lead to one (24-23), but Carolina Ruiz sealed the set win with a kill to knot the match at two apiece and force a final set.
- Delaware State led 8-4 by the midway point of the fifth and final ledger, but Saint Peter's closed in and eventually trimmed the deficit to three (11-8).
- Sloppy attacks by the Hornets led to four consecutive errors, which put the Peacocks ahead 12-11.
- Back-to-back kills by Angeleyshka Curbelo and Ruiz followed by a game-winning ace from Seda closed out the 15-12 set win and the 3-2 come-from-behind match victory.
Inside the Numbers
- Alvarado (16) and Curbelo (17) combined for 33 of the Peacocks 46 kills in the win.
- Setter, Soto paced the offense with 36 assists and a team-high three aces.
- In both of Saint Peter's wins this season, the team recorded double figures in service aces – going for 11 tonight.
- Defensively, three Peacocks posted double digit digs, led by Seda's 27.
- This was the third time in four matches that both Alvarado and Soto posted double-doubles.
- The win marked the first home-opening win for the program since 2014 when that Saint Peter's squad defeated Iona in five.
Coach's Quotes - Joe Chojnacki
- "Tonight was a real head scratcher. I thought we were very up and down and our team chemistry seemed off at times."
- "We could not stop their middle attack at all and that really put us in a tough spot."
- "This team, however managed keep their composure, get points when they needed to and put us in a position to steal the win."
- "Like the Hampton match our serving was the key as we racked up 11 aces. We'll need more of that this coming weekend."
- "It shows a lot of character to not be playing at your best and still find a way to win. I'm very proud of the way they gutted it out."
Up Next
- Saint Peter's travels north to New Britain, Connecticut, this weekend for the final multi-team tournament of the regular season, the Central Connecticut State Invitational.
- At the tournament, the Peacocks will battle against Central Connecticut State, Bucknell, and Rhode Island.
