MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team rallied past Georgian Court (N.J.) University, 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 25-27, 25-20, 15-10), on Sunday in Saint Anselm College's Stoutenburgh Gymnasium while splitting matches at the Southern New Hampshire University/Saint Anselm Volleyball Opener. The Purple Knights lost their finale to Southern New Hampshire, 3-0 (25-17, 28-26, 25-18), in Stan Spirou Field House. The Penmen qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament, winning the region and advancing to the Elite 8.
 
First-year head coach Lauren Brough, who served as an assistant coach the past three seasons, earned her first college coaching victory with the triumph over Georgian Court.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (1-3), Georgian Court (1-2), Southern New Hampshire (4-0)

Georgian Court Match
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 23 kills, 6 digs, 5 blocks
• Junior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 53 assists, 22 digs, 2 aces
• First-year Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 12 kills, 8 blocks, 5 digs, .455 hitting
• Sophomore Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 10 kills, 7 digs, 3 blocks
• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 7 kills, 5 blocks, .438 hitting
• Senior Caitlin O'Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 8 kills
• First-year Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 18 digs, 4 assists, 2 aces
• First-year Katarina Mladenovic (Chicago, Ill./Maine South), 12 digs, 3 aces
• Junior Jillian Orth (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 12 digs, 2 aces

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Nylene Mateo, 17 kills, 13 digs
• Junior Martina Croce, 13 kills
• Junior Giorgia Cappelletti, 9 kills, 15 digs
• Junior Dayna Diaz, 44 assists
• Graduate student Jessica Sprankle, 18 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The teams met for the first time.
• Saint Michael's outgained the Lions in kills (61-51), aces (10-6), digs (86-69) and blocks (13.0-4.0).
• The Purple and Gold had last recorded 13 blocks on Nov. 5, 2016.
• Patterson's 23 kills were the most by a Purple Knight since Lindsey Frazier '11 dropped 24 - also on Saint Anselm's home court - on Sept. 13, 2009. Patterson had 57 attacks, the most for Saint Michael's since Kelsey Flaherty '16 posted 65 on Sept. 12, 2005.
• Báez Rentas became the initial Purple Knight with 50 assists and 20 digs since Amy Manougian '09 totaled 55 and 28, respectively, on Oct. 31, 2006. Báez Rentas' 53 assists were the most by a Saint Michael's player since Catie Weller '17 collected 61 on Sept. 24, 2016.
• Almeida's eight blocks were the most by a Purple Knight since McKenzie McNamara '18 notched 10 on Nov. 5, 2016.

THE ACTION

• Down 15-13 in the opening set, Saint Michael's tallied 12 of the final 16 points, with Almeida turning in two kills and two solo blocks.
• An 8-0 run by Georgian Court made it 8-3 in the second set. The Purple Knights trimmed the deficit to two points on two occasions, including at 23-21 on O'Connor's kill, but came no closer.
• Saint Michael's slowly turned a 13-all tie into a 22-17 lead in the third set, on the strength of two kills apiece by Patterson and Welch in that time, before the Lions countered with a 7-1 run to reach set point at 24-23. The Purple Knights twice forced a tie before Mateo dropped consecutive kills to clinch the contest.
• The teams played through 14 ties in set No. 4 before a Georgian Court attack error and O'Connor kill provided Saint Michael's a 21-19 lead, and another O'Connor kill countered a Mateo kill as the Purple and Gold finished the set on a 6-1 run.
• The Lions led 5-1 and 6-2 in the deciding fifth set and were still up 7-4 following an attack error. Syverson countered with a kill to spark a match-clinching 11-3 run, during which Patterson posted a kill and three blocks, and Báez Rentas dropped an ace to finish off the victory.

Southern New Hampshire Match
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Patterson, 7 kills, 6 digs
• Welch, 7 kills, 2 blocks
• Báez Rentas, 22 assists, 12 digs
• Farnan, 14 digs
• O'Connor, 5 kills
• Syverson, 5 kills
• Almeida, 3 kills, 3 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Deanne Wilson, 15 digs, 4 assists, 2 aces
• Redshirt senior Ana Pimenta, 12 kills
• Sophomore Ella Koelb, 19 assists, 6 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights led the Penmen in aces (5-4) but were trimmed in blocks (5.0-3.0) and digs (56-48).

THE ACTION

• Pimenta's kill gave Southern New Hampshire a 13-7 lead in the opening set before Syverson's kill trimmed the deficit to 18-15. The Penmen responded with seven of the final nine points.
• After the teams played through seven early ties in set No. 2, the Purple Knights erased a five-point deficit and fought off five set points en route to three deadlocks, including at 26-all on O'Connor's kill. However, Penmen accounted for kills on the ensuing two points.
• Twelve more ties ensued in the third set, with a Penmen service error making it 17 apiece. Southern New Hampshire utilized a Saint Michael's attack error for the next point to kick off a final 8-1 push.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH

• Saturday at Plymouth State University, 4 p.m.