BRISTOL, R.I. – The last time the teams had met in 2021, it took major input from five veterans for the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team to rally for a five-set victory and snap a five-year losing streak at the hands of Roger Williams University
 
Tuesday, in Eastern's (4-2) first road match in 11 days, the Warriors -- without 53 of the 60 kills from that win, 60 of 79 of those digs, all 56 assists, and seven of nine service aces -- were swept by the Hawks (3-2) at the Campus Recreation Center, 17-25, 24-26, 19-25.
 
The win was the seventh for RWU in the last nine meetings with Eastern, fourth by sweep.
 
Eastern never led by more than a point and never led after the opening minutes of the first set, then sustained a deflating and critical two-point overtime loss in the second set that put it into a two-sets-to-none hole from which it could not recover.
 
In the second set, Eastern broke from a 12-12 tie and never trailed until the Hawks three times avoided set point by scoring the final five points. With Eastern leading 24-21 on sophomore Sadie Blackwell's (Southbury) only service ace of the match, Roger Williams remained alive on kills by Brianna Piccietti and Lily Winsten, and tied the match, 24-24, on an Eastern attack error coming out of a timeout. With RWU's Marianna Hernandez serving her team's final four points, Eastern committed a ball-handling error that pushed the hosts in front, and Jillian Smith's kill completed the stunning, late comeback.
 
Needing to win three straight sets, Eastern led by as many as six points in the third set before Roger Williams rallied, outscoring the Warriors 6-2 (five of the points coming on Eastern errors) to move in front for good, 19-18.
 
No Eastern player had as many as ten kills, with junior Bella Johnson (Marlborough), sophomore Taylor Thompson (West Point, NY) and first-year player Brooke Praskievicz (Moodus) combining for 22 of the team's 31. Sophomores Liz Squier (Trevor, WI) and Samantha Blandford (Windham, NH) combined for 25 assists, Praskievicz was perfect on 25 serve receptions, Blackwell dug up 17 balls, and junior Taylor Smith (Bowie, MD), senior Paige Savitsky (Centereach, NY) and first-year player Haley Jo Bridges (Montebello, NY) combined on seven block assists.
 
Including Tuesday night's game, Eastern will be playing six straight contests away from home before returning to open its Little East Conference season Sept. 27 against Rhode Island College. The Warriors had played four of their first five matches this year at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. A winner of eight of nine at home last year, Eastern was 7-9 away from home, 5-7 on its opponent's court.