COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team opened the season with a pair of losses on day one of its five-team, two-day Windjammer Classic on Friday in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights fell to No. 12 University of Nebraska Kearney, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-16), and East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-20, 25-18).
 
Nebraska Kearney, which qualified for the past 25 NCAA Division II Tournaments, was 12th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason poll. Saint Michael's is hosting the largest tournament in program history, and its first since 1995. Northeast 10 Conference counterparts No. 18 Bentley University, a 2024 NCAA Final Four qualifier, and Franklin Pierce University round out the field.
 
Nebraska Kearney Match
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (0-1), Nebraska Kearney (2-0)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 4 kills, 3 blocks
• Junior Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 4 kills, .375 hitting, 5 blocks
• Junior Ashley Marshall (Escondido, Calif./Escondido Charter), 8 assists
• Sophomore Anna Daggett (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), 6 digs
• Sophomore D'Niaya Settles (Ames, Iowa/Ames), 5 kills, 2 aces
• First-year Lillie King (Livermore, Calif./Carondelet), 4 blocks
• First-year Caitlin Mediate (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth), 5 assists, 6 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Peyton Neff, 27 assists
• Junior Mia Berg, 7 kills, .667 hitting
• Junior Carly Purdy, 12 kills

MATCH FACTS

• The teams met for the first time.

THE ACTION

• Welch had two kills and a block during an opening stretch of the first set that saw the teams tied at 5 before the Lopers rattled off a 9-2 run on the strength of two Berg kills and a pair of Neff aces. First-years played a hand in the next two points, with King and Rory Tower (Fountain Hills, Ariz./Desert Mountain) siding for a block and Mediate dropping an ace, but the visitors scored the next nine points.
• Senior Ella Patterson's (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago) kill produced a 6-6 tie in the second set, the sixth deadlock to that point, before Nebraska Kearney pulled away with a 16-3 stretch.
• The Lopers scored seven of the first eight points in set No. 3 and led 10-2 before trimming Saint Michael's by a 15-14 count down the stretch.

East Stroudsburg Match
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (0-2), East Stroudsburg (1-1)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Almeida, 3 blocks
• Daggett, 9 digs, 5 assists
• King, 5 kills
• Marshall, 13 assists
• Mediate, 21 assists, 3 aces, 9 digs
• Patterson, 11 kills, 12 digs, 2 aces
• Settles, 10 kills, 2 aces
• Tower, 6 kills, .385 hitting, 4 blocks
• Welch, 8 kills, 4 blocks
• Junior Emily Winefield (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack), 8 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Allison Birtcil, 10 kills, 4 blocks
• Graduate student Anna Coulter, 16 kills, 11 blocks
• Senior Katalin Kovacs, 43 assists
• Senior Romina Martinez, 10 kills, 8 digs

MATCH FACTS

• The teams met for the first time since 2008.
• Saint Michael's held a 52-48 lead in digs while narrowly being outkilled, 46-43.

THE ACTION

• The teams played through 11 ties and six lead changes in the opening set, with neither ever leading by more than three points. After a service ace gave the Warriors a 24-23 lead, the hosts rattled off the final three points, with Patterson's ace giving them the final lead and an attack error clinching the set.
• East Stroudsburg scored the first five points of the second set en route to a 10-2 lead before Settles' kill made it as close as 17-13, but the Purple Knights trimmed the deficit no further.
• Neither team led by more than two points in set No. 3 until Birtcil's kill gave the visitors a 13-10 edge. Martinez's ace produced a set-best 23-15 advantage before Coulter dropped the clinching kill.
• Patterson had two kills and Tower one during a 3-0 run that put Saint Michael's ahead 11-10 in the fourth set, but Coulter had a kill and three blocks in a 7-0 response. The hosts came no closer than four from there.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH

• Saturday vs. No. 18 Bentley (2 p.m.) and Franklin Pierce (6:30 p.m.) on Day 2 of the Windjammer Classic.