COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team corralled its fifth consecutive victory on Wednesday evening by sweeping past the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-15), in Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights improved to 5-1, while the Cardinals are 5-4.

Junior Megan Mulvaney (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) paced a balanced team effort with eight kills, a .429 attack percentage and three blocks for the hosts, senior Candace Washington (New Carrollton, Md./Parkdale) had seven kills on 11 swings and two blocks in two sets, and sophomore Megan Priester (Dover, N.H./Dover) tacked on seven kills. Senior Kelsey Flaherty (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane) posted five kills, four aces and three digs in two sets, and junior Catie Weller (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) dished off 21 assists while totaling nine digs and two aces.

Junior Natalie Moore (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) collected 16 digs and four assists, classmate Natalia Maccarrone (Hingham, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) added eight digs, and sophomore Julia Colasanti (Northville, Mich./Northville) tacked on six. With 1,050 career digs, Moore is 10 shy of Stephanie Robbins '05 for third in school history. First-year Abby Blanchet (Milford, N.H./Milford) distributed five assists, classmate Sarah Rodgers (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) had four, and sophomore McKenzie McNamara (Pembroke, Mass./Pembroke) posted a pair of blocks.

First-years Sam Colombo and Izzy Ruff both dropped six kills for SUNY Plattsburgh, with Colombo adding six digs, and classmate Sydney Gabriel had 19 assists. Sophomore Jordynne Ales had 10 digs.

The Cardinals pulled out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set before Saint Michael's went on a clinching 24-8 run, with three Mulvaney kills keying a 9-1 stretch that put the hosts ahead for good. Flaherty served out the set with back-to-back aces.

With many of the Purple Knights' younger players seeing time during the second set, SUNY Plattsburgh led by as many as four points and still held a 19-16 edge prior to the hosts scoring nine of the final 11 points. Mulvaney had three more kills and a block in that time. Junior Tess Saburn (Basking Ridge, N.J./Mount Saint Mary Academy) notched a tying kill, and Maccarrone's ace made it 20-19 before the visitors scored the next two points to forge ahead. From there, the Cardinals committed four attack errors in the Purple Knights' closing 5-0 run, with McNamara notching two blocks.

In set No. 3, the hosts forged a 3-0 edge and continued to lead, nabbing a 14-9 advantage, before SUNY Plattsburgh drew within 14-13. However, first-year Mairin King's (Melrose, Mass./Mystic Valley Regional Charter School) kill sparked a matching-ending 11-2 run, while classmate Kelsey Higgins (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) notched a kill at match point. Washington had two kills in the big finishing stretch, while Flaherty and sophomore Hanna Lesch (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) added one apiece.

The Purple Knights head back into Northeast-10 Conference play on Saturday at Southern New Hampshire University at 1 p.m.