MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team opened the 2023 season with a pair of competitive setbacks during the Southern New Hampshire University/Saint Anselm College Volleyball Opener on Saturday at Saint Anselm's Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. The Purple Knights lost to the host Hawks, 3-1 (18-25, 32-30, 25-19, 25-20), before falling against Edinboro (Pa.) University, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 33-31). Saint Anselm qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament.
 
Saint Michael's played its first matches under first-year head coach Lauren Brough, who served as an assistant coach the past three seasons.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (0-2), Saint Anselm (1-0), Edinboro (1-0)

Saint Anselm Match
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 19 kills, 10 digs, 3 aces, 2 blocks
• Junior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 38 assists, 18 digs, 3 blocks
• First-year Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 23 digs, 8 assists
• First-year Katarina Mladenovic (Chicago, Ill./Maine South), 12 digs
• Senior Caitlin O'Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 8 kills, .350 hitting
• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 7 kills, 5 blocks
• Sophomore Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 7 kills, 5 blocks
• First-year Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 6 kills, 5 blocks, 5 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• First-year Hollyn Frano, 12 kills
• Senior Kaitlin Brown, 11 kills, 14 digs
• First-year Sam Pila, 37 assists
• Fifth-year Caroline Belmontez, 14 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights held sizeable advantages in digs (81-63), kills (51-41) and hitting percentage (.177-.124).

THE ACTION

• Down 6-4 in the opening set, Saint Michael's rattled off a 17-6 run behind two kills apiece from O'Connor and Patterson and two blocks by Welch. The Hawks never came closer than five points down the stretch.
• Set No. 2 featured 16 lead swings and nine ties, with the contest extending well beyond the regulation 25 points. Farnan dropped an ace to give the visitors a 25-24 lead, but Saint Anselm fought off the first of seven match points faced between the teams thanks to a Brown kill. Junior Jillian Orth (Bourne, Mass./Bourne) landed an ace to make it 30-29, but the Hawks scored the final three points.
• Saint Michael's was within 16-14 in the third set before the hosts tallied a 6-1 run to pull away.
• The Purple Knights trimmed a six-point deficit to one point on a trio of occasions in the fourth set, including as Orth dropped an ace to cut it to 21-20. However, three Hawks had kills in a clinching 4-0 stretch.

Edinboro Match
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Báez Rentas, 31 assists, 11 digs
• Farnan, 25 digs, 7 assists
• Orth, 12 digs
• Patterson, 11 kills, 13 digs
• Welch, 7 kills, 3 blocks
• O'Connor, 7 kills
• Almeida, 6 kills, 3 blocks
• Syverson, 3 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Bella Burrelli, 10 kills, 16 digs
• Junior Abigale Soboleski, 17 assists
• First-year Laney Burns, 17 assists, 10 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The teams met for the first time.
• The Purple Knights led the Fighting Scots in digs (75-64) while being trimmed in kills (41-38).

THE ACTION

• Two kills apiece by Almeida, Báez Rentas and Syverson helped the Purple and Gold nab a 14-11 lead in the opening set before Edinboro responded with the next six points en route to a closing 14-5 run.
• Saint Michael's slashed a 19-10 deficit to five points three times down the stretch in the second set, including 24-19 on an O'Connor kill, before Burrelli dropped a capping kill.
• Patterson posted a kill in set No. 3 to produce a 19-16 Saint Michael's edge - the largest separation by either team in the set - before the Purple Knights played beyond regulation for the second time on the day. Almeida's kill put her squad up 30-29, and the Purple and Gold later fought off a match point when Welch's kill tied the teams at 31. However, graduate student Kathryn Raschilla tallied consecutive kills to finish the contest.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH

• Sunday against Georgian Court (N.J.) University at 11 a.m. and at Southern New Hampshire at 4 p.m. during the Southern New Hampshire/Saint Anselm Volleyball Opener. The Purple Knights play Georgian Court on Saint Anselm's home court before heading across town to face the Penmen.