DURHAM, N.H. – The Saint Peter's volleyball team (1-2) split its doubleheader on Saturday, falling to New Hampshire (2-0) in five sets (10-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-25, 9-15) before defeating Holy Cross (0-3) in five sets (25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 17-15) to close out the Holly Young Invitational at Lundholm Gymnasium.
"This weekend, we learned that we have a lot of fight and resilience," head coach
Fernando Colon said after the team's third match and final match of the tournament. "The group showed that even when things weren't perfect, we could adjust, stay together, and compete at a high level."
"It gave us a clear picture of where we are right now and what we need to sharpen going forward, but also reinforced that this team has a strong competitive edge."
The Peacocks definitely showed great competitiveness and resilience in both matches on Saturday. After starting slow in the first set against UNH, Saint Peter's responded by winning the next two sets to get back in the match. Despite the result, the Peacocks took a very talented team that won its conference a season ago to five sets.
Saint Peter's showed resilience again in the final set against Holy Cross. The Crusaders came back to tie things at 15-15, but the Peacocks powered through for the final two points of the match to escape Durham with a victory.
Indira T. Benitez Dumeng had a great day for the Peacocks, racking up the second-most kills on the team with 24. Only
Valeria Pagan Munoz had more with 27. Benitez also recorded seven blocks at the net, providing a dominant defensive presence.
"Indira really stepped up and played with a lot of confidence," said Colon. "She was creative offensively and demonstrated she can score in different ways. She made plays in big moments offensively and defensively, and she also brought great energy."
Another player who made plays in big moments was
Sibana González Acevedo. She totaled nine kills, six digs and a career-high six aces in the loss to the Wildcats before tallying 14 kills and four digs against Holy Cross.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks travel back to New Jersey to play at NJIT on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. ET.
"We'll focus on recovery first, then shift into getting sharper with our blocking," Colon stated. "Serving and passing will also be a big emphasis. We also want to keep building our offensive rhythm and fine-tuning some situational play. Our goal is to clean up details and make sure we're playing our style of volleyball heading into the match."
NOTES
Gonzalez Acevedo recorded a career-high six aces against New Hampshire…Pagan Munoz finished with 14 kills while hitting .321 against Holy Cross…
Lara Martinez had a team-best .417 hitting percentage with seven kills vs. Holy Cross…the Peacocks had 14 aces compared to New Hampshire's seven.
