WATERBURY, Conn. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team lost twice on Saturday during a tri-match at Post University's Drubner Center. The Purple Knights opened the day with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-21) setback against host Post, the only remaining undefeated team in the region, before being downed by Saint Thomas Aquinas College, 3-2 (27-25, 25-23, 18-25, 18-25, 15-11), after rallying from down two sets.
 
Post Match
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (2-7), Post (8-0)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 7 digs
• Senior Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 9 kills, 3 blocks
• Junior Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 5 kills, 7 digs, 5 blocks
• Junior Ashley Marshall (Escondido, Calif./Escondido Charter), 26 assists, 2 aces
• Sophomore Anna Daggett (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), 12 digs
• Sophomore Nora Schulze (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), 9 kills
• Sophomore D'Niaya Settles (Ames, Iowa/Ames), 8 kills
• First-year Caitlin Mediate (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth), 10 digs
• First-year Justine Sharkness (Canton, Mich./Plymouth), 6 digs in 2 sets
• First-year Rory Tower (Fountain Hills, Ariz./Desert Mountain), 4 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Alice DiFrancesco, 26 assists
• Graduate student Kristina Peric, 15 kills, 11 digs

MATCH FACTS

• Post entered the day among 19 undefeated Division II teams, and was the 2024 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament runner-up.
• The Purple Knights matched the Eagles in both kills (35) and digs (57) while holding a 9-4 lead in blocks.

THE ACTION

• The teams played through 10 ties and five lead changes in the opening set, when the Purple Knights led by as much as five (6-1) and twice held set point, but the Eagles notched the final three points.
• DiFrancesco dropped an ace for the opening point of the second set to give her team the lead for good.
• Saint Michael's wiped out a six-point deficit in set No. 3 when Welch provided two blocks and a kill in a tying 6-0 run that made it 19 apiece. The Eagles came out of a timeout with the next three points and pulled away.

Saint Thomas Aquinas Match
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (2-8), Saint Thomas Aquinas (2-5)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Almeida, 9 kills, 2 aces
• Daggett, 14 digs
• Marshall, 41 assists, 11 digs
• Mediate, 21 digs
• Patterson, 8 kills, 2 aces
• Schulze, 5 kills in 2 sets
• Settles, 6 kills in 3 sets
• Tower, 13 kills, .429 hitting, 5 blocks, 2 aces
• Welch, 9 kills
• Junior Emily Winefield (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack), 9 digs, 2 aces

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Anna Gazzerro, 34 assists
• Junior Boglarka Kiss, 28 digs, 6 aces
• First-year Adriana Zarceno, 15 kills, 12 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The teams met for the first time.
• Saint Michael's held leads in hitting (.138-.064), digs (87-82) and blocks (7-5).

THE ACTION

• The opening set featured 16 ties and seven lead swings. The Purple Knights held a 25-24 lead following an attack error, but the Spartans scored the final three points.
• Ten more ties ensued in the second set, as Saint Michael's turned a 16-10 deficit into a 21-20 lead thanks to a pair of Tower aces in a go-ahead 5-0 run. However, Boglarka dropped the clinching ace.
• Another 10 ties occurred in set No. 3, with neither team leading by more than two points until Saint Michael's closed with an 8-2 run during which Almeida and Welch both had two kills.
• In a fourth set that included 11 ties, Marshall's strong service keyed a clinching 8-1 run that snapped a 17-all tie and ensured a deciding set.
• Saint Thomas Aquinas scored the first three points of the fifth set and led by as many as six points before Almeida's ace made it 14-11. Sophomore Chloe Weiting came up with the winning kill on the next point.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH

• Friday at Saint Anselm College, 5 p.m.