ALBANY, N.Y. – The College of Saint Rose earned a straight set victory tonight (25-19, 25-14, 25-22) against Northeast-10 Conference rival Pace inside Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.
Four different Golden Knights registered six or more kills and the team finished the match with a season-high .288 strike percentage. Freshman middle blocker
Karleigh Fripp led Saint Rose with seven kills on a .667 average. Sophomore outside hitter
Elizabeth Johnson, freshman outside hitter
Jennah Kareem, and senior outside hitter
Cassidy Smith tallied six kills each for the Golden Knight attack.
"The team came out with energy, passion, and a desire to win tonight. We had a solid game plan and our team executed well." said Saint Rose Head Coach
Vanessa Volpe-Rivera after the victory. "It's great to get our first conference win to build momentum into this weekend."
Saint Rose (4-8/1-2 NE10) was able to break open a deadlocked first frame with a key 10-4 run in the middle of the set. Freshman outside hitter
Juliana Venduro and sophomore setter
Emma Strefling sparked the rally with long service streaks and the Golden Knights offense landed six aces from behind the service line to take set number one, 25-19.Â
The Golden Knights controlled all aspects of set number two, sprinting out to a 6-1 lead and extending the margin over the Setters to as much as 11. Saint Rose landed .474 percent of its strikes in the second set as the Golden Knights cruised to a 2-0 match lead.
Saint Rose and Pace traded surges into the late stages of the third set, with neither team able to build a lead of more than three points. With the score tied at 17-17, junior libero Gabriela Boyrie served the Golden Knights to four straight points to put Saint Rose ahead for good in the back-and-forth final set that saw 10 tied scores and seven lead changes.
Pace (1-7/0-2 NE10) received five kills each from the outside hitter trio of sophomores Madison Lupica, Cydney Gardener, and Jada Screen. Freshman outside hitter Abby Robertson earned two solo blocks in the battle at the net. The Golden Knights prevented the Setter's attack from developing any long point-scoring rallies throughout the match, as the Pace offense was held to a .089 hitting percentage.
Looking ahead, Saint Rose travels to Rochester, N.Y. on Friday for a 6:00 pm non-conference matchup at Roberts Wesleyan. Pace will also be on the road Friday night, when the Setters continue NE10 play on the road against Saint Anselm. The start time will be 5:30 pm.
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