Volleyball steps out of NCAA Tournament with loss to Stevens

HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team has its season come to a close Saturday evening, as Stevens Institute of Technology defeated the Hawks 3-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In the first set, the Ducks led early on, 9-4, but the third-seeded Hawks scored 14 of the set's next 16 points to open an 18-11 margin before earning the 25-17 win and taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set was as thriller with ebbs and flows and back and forth throughout. Stevens jumped out to a 6-3 lead thanks to a 3-0 spurt highlighted by kills from senior Ashley Castillo and sophomore Mary Tobin along with a service ace from Tobin.

Trailing 9-6, RWU ran off three-straight points to tie the score at nine, but the Ducks responded by opening a 14-10 lead behind senior Katie Hall's serve and another kill from Tobin. Again, the Hawks responded in the face of adversity to tie the score, but the Ducks kept their collective cool and went on top 17-14 on the back of sophomore Christina Sciarra.

The Ducks maintained a nice working lead and led 21-18 before Roger Williams made a run of its own to tie the score at 21. The Hawks even took a 22-21 edge, but two kills from Tobin in a 3-0 run gave the Ducks the lead. Again, RWU came back, this time turning a 24-23 deficit into a chance at set point (25-24), but the Ducks had the fortitude to tie things at 25 behind a Tobin kill, and then get a kill from junior Annemarie Thomas and another from Tobin to knot the match at one apiece.

In the third, the two teams went point-for-point and after 23 tallies, neither team had built a lead more than one and the score was 12-11 Stevens. Four of the next five points went to the Ducks as they built a 16-12 edge, but the Hawks clawed back to take a 21-19 margin.

The Ducks tied things at 21, before kills from Tobin and Sciarra made it 23-21 Stevens. RWU (23-6) responded to tie the score, but a block from Sciarra and a kill from Tobin locked up the third and gave Stevens a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, despite some swings in momentum in the early going, the two teams were tied at 10-all after 20 tallies. The Ducks recorded five of the next six points to take a 15-11 advantage, highlighted by a pair of kills from Thomas.

The Hawks closed within one (16-15), but a kill from Thomas, a kill from Evans and an attack error from the Hawks gave the Ducks a 19-15 edge and all the momentum, feeding off a frenzied Canavan Arena crowd.

Amazingly, Roger Williams still came back, getting within one at 20-19, but the Ducks slammed the door shut with two kills from Hall, two from Tobin and one from Sciarra to take the win and march into the Regional title match.

Katie Theriet (St. Louis, Mo.) set a new career high with 18 kills for RWU in the loss. Elizabeth Flaherty (Sloatsburg, N.Y.) finished with 14 kills and 18 digs, while Kristen Boyer (Ephrata, Pa.) added ten kills and 14 digs. Maria Batas (Merrick, N.Y.) had a team-high 34 digs, and Josalyn Benson (Phoenix, Ariz.) notched a career-high 49 assists.

Stevens will battle Clarkson University Sunday in Canavan at 3 p.m. for a berth in the national quarterfinals and the Hoboken Regional title.

- Release courtesy of the Stevens Institute of Technology Sports Information Department

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