GORHAM, Me. – Senior
Anna Barry (Andover) had 25 kills with a .487 attack percentage and senior
Abby Stern (Manchester) had 17 kills to move to within 27 in her career as the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team swept the University of Southern Maine in a Little East Conference match and Colby College in a non-conference match Saturday afternoon at the Warren Hill Gymnasium.
Eastern (9-1, 2-0 LEC) won its ninth straight LEC regular-season match over three seasons with 25-13, 25-18, 25-14 victories over Southern Maine (5-8, 1-1 LEC) before sweeping Colby (6-3), 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 for the third straight time in the first meeting between the programs in 14 years. Eastern improved to 20-3 all-time against Southern Maine.
Barry, third all-time at Eastern with a career .370 attack percentage, had 11 kills with a .562 attack percentage against USM and 14 kills with a .435 attack percentage against Colby. Stern will become only the tenth player in program history with as many as 1,000 kills with her 27
th.
In the closest set against USM, Eastern outscored the Huskies 11-5 after breaking from a 14-13 lead in the second set to post the seven-point win. A pair of successive kills by Barry had lifted Eastern into an early 11-4 in the second set before USM bounced back with the help of three Eastern attack errors and three ball-handling errors to cut the gap to one, 14-13.
In six sets on the day, senior
Alaetra Long (Lincoln, NE) followed Barry with 17 kills and a .414 attack percentage and junior
Nayeli Cruz Martinez (Toa Baja, P.R.) was also in double figures with 11 kills and led all players with a .667 attack percentage and six service aces.
Twenty-five of Eastern's points on the day came on service aces, with Stern adding five, senior setter
Meg Verizzi (Lebanon) and Long four each. Verizzi had 62 assists, Stern 15 digs and junior libero
Paula Perez (Caguas, P.R.) 13. As a team, the Warriors committed only six reception errors, with Stern successful on 32 of 33 attempts.
Eastern hosts Western Connecticut State University in a Little East contest Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Colonials have won 13 of the last 16 meetings between the programs. Eastern was the LEC pre-season favorite and WestConn is ranked fifth. The Colonials (8-5, 1-1 LEC) were swept at Keene State College Saturday.
