ALBANY – Merrimack College used a balanced offensive and defensive attack and limited The College of Saint Rose women's volleyball team to an .011 hitting percentage on the way to a 3-0 (12-25, 20-25, 14-25) Northeast-10 Conference victory over the Golden Knights at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium tonight. The Warriors (3-8/2-4 NE-10) snapped a three-match skid against Saint Rose, while the Golden Knights (3-11/1-3 NE-10) have now dropped three in a row themselves.

Freshman defensive specialist Christina Strezenec was a bright spot for Saint Rose after chalking up 16 digs and serving up a pair of aces. Meanwhile, junior setter Theresa Staulo contributed 13 assists, five digs and a pair of kills.

Merrimack had three players with 10 or more digs and hit .210 as a team to leave no doubt as to the final outcome. Senior libero Alyssa Pickert paced the defense with 17 digs and junior middle blocker Nicole Duarte led the offense with 13 kills.

Also for the Warriors, senior outside hitter Molly Cindric and sophomore middle blocker Jenna Reilly had efficient nights up front. Cindric wound up hitting .471 with eight kills after not committing an error in 17 attempts, while Reilly chalked up seven kills on the strength of a .385 hitting percentage.

Merrimack never trailed in taking a 25-12 win in the opening frame. The Warriors, who trailed only twice all night, hit .382 in the first set and held a 17-5 margin in kills. Merrimack pretty much had no less than a three-point cushion throughout a 25-20 triumph in set two and then outscored the Golden Knights 17-6 down the stretch to take the third and final set 25-14.

Both clubs return to action tomorrow with a pair of league matches on tap. Saint Rose plays host to defending NE-10 Tournament Champion UMass Lowell at 1:00 pm, while Merrimack heads to Le Moyne for a noon start.

Box Score