NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The fifth-seeded Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team lost to No. 4 Southern Connecticut State University, 3-1, on Tuesday during the first round of the Northeast 10 Conference Championship at Pelz Gymnasium. The Owls were sixth in last week's NCAA East Region rankings.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (7-18), Southern Connecticut State (16-7)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 12 kills, .455 hitting, 7 digs
• Senior Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 7 kills, 4 blocks
• Junior Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 3 kills, .333 hitting, 2 aces, 2 blocks
• Junior Ashley Marshall (Escondido, Calif./Escondido Charter), 19 assists
• Sophomore Anna Daggett (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), 19 digs, 4 assists
• Sophomore Nora Schulze (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), 14 kills
• First-year Caitlin Mediate (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth), 22 assists, 7 digs
• First-year Rory Tower (Fountain Hills, Ariz./Desert Mountain), 7 kills, .357 hitting, 4 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Sydney Bennett, 12 kills, .440 hitting, 3 blocks
• Junior Sarah Henault, 12 digs, 5 aces
• Sophomore Kerrigan Habing, 10 kills
• First-year Kimberli Mitchell, 33 assists, 12 kills, .600 hitting, 7 digs, 3 aces

MATCH FACTS

• Saint Michael's qualified for its third straight postseason, a feat unprecedented since 1990-95.
• The Purple Knights earned their highest NE10 Championship seed since 1994.
• Tower's 96 blocks this fall tied Katie Ouellette '06 (2002) for third in program history and matched Ouellette's rookie record. They were the most blocks by a Purple Knight since Candace Washington '16 had 114 in 2015. Tower's 70 block assists are good for fourth all-time.
• Almeida's 87 blocks this year tie her for sixth in program history with Stephanie Bambury '08 (2006), and she tied Beth Doré '88 (1987) for second in block assists (70). Almeida enters her senior year sixth at Saint Michael's in career total blocks (182) and third in block assists (147).

THE ACTION

• The Purple Knights were within 12-11 on Tower's solo block in the first set before the next three points went to the Owls, and the visitors never again trailed by fewer than three points.
• Four Henault aces helped Southern Connecticut State score the first six points of the second set en route to leading 9-1. Daggett's ace created a 21-17 margin, but three straight errors gave the hosts set point.
• Patterson dropped a kill that capped a 4-0 run that gave Saint Michael's an 8-4 lead in set No. 3 before converting back-to-back kills for a 10-5 advantage. The Owls slowly chipped away and forged ahead 20-18 on Mitchell's ace, but Tower, Marshall and Welch all had kills during a 5-0 response, and Schulze clinched the win with an overpass kill.
• Neither team led by more than two points in the fourth set until Bennett's kill made it 12-9, but Schulze and Welch posted consecutive kills to create a one-point contest. Bennett dropped a pair of kills during an ensuing 6-0 run that helped the hosts pull away, with their lead reaching 10 points on four occasions.