DOVER, DE – The Saint Peter's University women's volleyball team dropped a tightly contested four set match against St. Francis College (19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 21-25) and fell in straight sets to Bucknell (15-25, 17-25, 15-25) on the final day of the DSU Hornet Invite at Memorial Hall in Dover, Delaware.
The Basics
Score: Saint Peter's 1, St. Francis Brooklyn 3
Records: Saint Peter's (0-2) | St. Francis Brooklyn (1-1)
Location: Memorial Hall | Dover, DE
Match Notes
- All four sets between the Peacocks and Terries were a battle from start to finish.
- In the opening frame, SPU jumped ahead 7-6 for its first lead of the morning after an attack error by a SFC player.
- Each side continued to alternate points before the Terriers put together an 8-2 run that gave them a 16-10 lead over the Peacocks late in the set.
- Four straight Peacock points, consisting of two kills from freshman Suzzanne Bigelow and one by senior Angeleyshka Curbelo, quickly cut the deficit to two points (16-14).
- A kill by Stephanie Rivera late in the set would bring SPU within one of SFC (19-18), but the Terriers scored six of the final seven points in the set to jump out to a 1-0 match lead.
- The Peacock attack was in full swing to open set number two.
- Back-to-back kills by Curbelo, and kills by Skylee Nelson, Rivera, and Bigelow gave SPU an early 5-2 lead.
- Still gripping a slim lead, the Peacocks used three consecutive points (kill by Curbelo, two attack errors by SFC) to gain their largest lead of the set when they went up 16-12.
- Immediately after grabbing its best advantage, SPU was outscored 8-2, falling behind 20-18 late in the second.
- The Peacocks were undaunted by the late Terrier push, shutting down the opposition with a 7-1 rally, which included the final five points of the frame, earning a 25-21 win to tie the match at 1-1.
- A sluggish start to the third set put SPU in an 8-1 hole early on.
- Slowly but surely, the women used their attack to fight back and make it another entertaining set.
- Seven of Peacocks' next nine points came by way of kills, cutting the score to 14-10.
- After SFC added another point, putting SPU down 15-10, the squad rallied off five straight points to lock up the set at 15 all.
- The frame would see three more ties at 16, 18, and 19, just before graduate setter Wildalys Soto scored the go-ahead kill for SPU, giving the team a 20-19 advantage.
- Ultimately, three straight crucial attack errors by the Peacocks would help propel the Terriers to a 25-21 third set edge.
- Set four began with seesaw action between the two sides.
- 11 ties and eight different lead changes led to a deadlock at 16-16.
- Unfortunately for the Peacocks the set would soon slip away, giving up an 8-1 run which gave the Terriers set-point.
- Despite SPU's valiant effort, getting as close as three points, SFC sealed the set (25-21) and the match (3-1).
Inside the Numbers
- Saint Peter's held a 50-47 kill advantage and 83-75 dig advantage over St. Francis in the match.
- Soto (33 assists and 16 digs) and Alanis Alvarado (12 kills and 14 digs) posted the first pair of double-doubles for Saint Peter's this season.
- It was the 20th time in Soto's stellar career that she has successfully handed out 30 or more sets, while recording her 19th career double-double.
- Alvarado meanwhile, posted her 21st career double-double.
- Four other Peacocks came within two or less kills of double figures -- Bigelow, Curbello, and Nelson each recorded nine, while Rivera posted eight.
- On the defensive side of the net, sophomore libero Alwen Pila set a career mark with her 22 digs, while Curbelo registered 19 digs, just two shy of her career-best.
- Bigelow kept her dominance at the net going, posting 6.0 total blocks (five assists and one solo) to lead SPU.
The Basics
Score: Saint Peter's 0, Bucknell 3
Records: Saint Peter's (0-3) | Bucknell (2-1)
Location: Memorial Hall | Dover, DE
Match Notes
- Three attack errors by the Bison led to a quick 3-2 lead for the Peacocks, which would prove to be the team's lone lead of the set.
- Bucknell responded by scoring 12 of the next 13 points, going up 14-4.
- SPU could only get as close as eight the rest of the way, falling 25-15.
- The second set was much tighter through the midpoint of the match.
- The Peacocks scored the first two points, and took a lead of 5-3 following a kill from Nelson.
- After falling behind 12-8, SPU scored the next four points, starting with an Alvarado kill and capped off by a kill from Lily Barnhill to knot the match again.
- The match would tie two more times at 13 and 14 before Bucknell used a 9-0 run to take a controlling 23-14 lead and eventually end the second set 25-17.
- SPU kept the third set close in the beginning, leveling things at 8-8.
- Although the Peacocks never allowed a run any larger than four points, the Bison slowly pulled away and eventually took the final set 25-15.
Inside the Numbers
- Freshman Jayden Easingwood recorded her first career double-double in the match, leading the set with a team-high 10 assists while also receiving 11 digs.
- Alvarado once again led the Peacocks' attack, finishing her day with seven kills, followed by Nelson's five and three by Brianna Jones.
- Pila had a team-leading 13 digs, while Jones led the unit with 2.0 blocks.
Coach's Quotes – Joe Chojnacki
- "Not the outcome we were hoping for but I have to remember that the goal of this weekend was to get as many people as we could quality playing time, which I feel we were successful in."
- "Once again, very happy with the play of all of our Middles, plus Wildalys Soto and Alwen Pila both played really well against St. Francis."
Up Next
- The squad returns to the Garden State on Tuesday, August 31 for an out of conference road match-up against in-state foe NJIT.
- First serve is set for 6pm in Newark.
