WEST HAVEN, CT–Recording a season-high of 35 digs, senior libero Katy Daniels anchored the defensive efforts for The College of Saint Rose in Wednesday evening's 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 18-25, 27-25, 8-15) loss to Northeast-10 Conference rival New Haven at Charger Gymnasium.
The match marked just the second league setback for the Golden Knights (13-5/5-2 NE-10), and halted their six-game win streak. The Chargers remained perfect in conference play (14-6/6-0 NE-10).
In a match that scripted 19 ties throughout five sets, Saint Rose had to come from behind twice in order to force a fifth set. Back and forth play started early in the first when the Chargers put up a 5-2 lead, only to have the Golden Knights go on a five-point run to take a 7-5 mark. The Chargers followed with their own four-point spurt to regain the lead, but ties at 11, 13 and 18-all kept them on their toes. Following the 18-18 mark, New Haven registered seven points compared to just two for Saint Rose to end the set 25-20.
Despite four ties before the 5-5 mark in set two, the Golden Knights acted quickly and posted a 10-5 advantage, and held onto the lead throughout the remainder of the set. Neither team was able to put more than three tallies together at a time. The Chargers came within two points of the tie many times, but Saint Rose secured a 25-21 victory to tie the game at 1-1 overall.
New Haven posted a 9-5 lead to start set three, and slowly chipped away at the board to build a significant 20-14 lead, forcing Saint Rose to call two timeouts in the process. The Golden Knights could only grab four more points throughout the game, and eventually fell 25-18.
After the third timeout of set three, and a 17-13 score in favor of the Chargers, Saint Rose took advantage of four kills from sophomore middle hitter Maryellen Devic, and three errors from New Haven to tie the game at 22-all. The game tied at every point after that mark, the final at 25-25. An attach error from the Chargers, and a huge kill from Devic allowed the Golden Knights to secure the 27-25 win, and force a fifth set.
Set five proved to be a challenge for Saint Rose, beginning with a seven-point run from the Chargers, giving them a 7-1 lead. Both teams chipped away at the board, but New Haven used the large lead to its advantage, and gave up just eight points to the Golden Knights en route to a 15-8 victory.
Devic paced the attack with 22 of the team's 67 kills, and registered 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior right side Carissa Dube followed with 12 kills. Setters Tori Daniels and Erica Ziskin recorded 28 assists apiece. Senior setter Ariana Wilson aided on both sides of the ball with eight kills and 12 digs, while sophomore middle hitter Jennifer Gundrum and junior outside hitter Kelsey Lace put up two blocks each.
Looking ahead, both teams have 1:00 pm NE-10 home dates Saturday. Saint Rose will host foe Merrimack in a match that may be seen live on www.gogoldenknights.tv. Meanwhile, New Haven will take on Bentley.
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