Women's Volleyball Falls to St. Joes
Kendal Lariviere
For The Clock
The Plymouth Women's Volleyball team was blanked by St. Joseph’s College of Maine Tuesday night in a non-conference away game. The Panthers battled it out, keeping the scores close, but the undefeated Monks got away with the win after just three sets of play (23-25, 17-25, 22-25).
Despite starting with five unanswered points by St. Joe’s in the first set, PSU was able respond with a four point run of their own. The Monks pulled ahead again with another five points straight, but Plymouth initiated a scoring run that tied the match at 16-16. They would take the lead moments later on a service ace from junior Dani Tabor (Olympia, W.A.) to bring the score to 19-18. However, the Panthers were unable to hold on to their lead, and would fall victim to a couple of attack errors in the 23-25 loss.
In the second set, St. Joe’s started with another early lead, but PSU was able to close the gap about midway through and edge a 13-12 lead on a block from junior Brianna Wojtas (Salem, N.H.). The lead didn’t last, as the Monks went on another scoring drive, smacking down five points to regain the lead. Unable to overcome the deficit, the Panthers would take the loss 17-25.
The final set of the evening was opened with a 2-0 lead by Plymouth. The two teams battled for the lead throughout the set, as neither team led by more than four points the entire time. With the score tied at 17, St. Joe’s took the lead, going on a four-point run that started with an attack error by Tabor. The Panthers would rack up a couple more points on errors by St. Joe’s, but it wasn’t enough. The final score was 22-25.
Tabor led the team in kills with seven, while classmate Mikki Taffe (Sandown, N.H.) added five kills and sophomore Claire Sporer (Medford, O.R.) posted four kills. Sophomore Brenna Peruch had 19 digs on the night, claiming the team-high, and classmates Sporer and Megan Bailey (Canterbury, N.H.) added six and four digs, respectively. Bailey also contributed with 16 assists.
With the loss, PSU drops to 7-3. They return home Saturday for a tri-match versus LEC competitor Western Connecticut University at 12:00 p.m. and Salve Regina at 3:00 p.m.