PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Playing for the first time since the 2019 Little East Conference (LEC) Tournament championship game, the Plymouth State University women's volleyball team soared past Rhode Island College, 3-1 (25-15, 25-7, 15-25, 25-14), in an LEC match at The Murray Center on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore
Natalie Gravelle (Portsmouth, N.H.) pounded down a match-high 11 kills while hitting .381, and freshman
Elsa MacNeill (Acton, Mass.) hit .462 (7-1-13) as PSU cruised to the win. Plymouth State served up 16 aces, tied for the fifth-most in a four-set match in school history, while freshman
Nora Ryan (Groton, Conn.) set a program record with eight block assists in a match.
Plymouth State goes to 1-0 (1-0 LEC) on the season, while the Anchorwomen fall to 0-1 (0-1 LEC).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 3, Rhode Island College 1
- Plymouth State (1-0, 1-0 LEC)
- Rhode Island College (0-1, 0-1 LEC)
Top Performers:
How it Happened:
- The opening set went back-and-forth until Ryan's kill sparked a 4-0 run to give the Panthers a 16-10 lead.
- Back-to-back kills from Gravelle extended the advantage to 21-12, and moments later she found the floor again to wrap up a 25-15 first set win.
- PSU was dominant in set two, sparked by strong serving. Sophomore Emilee Flanagan (Milton, N.H.) ripped off four aces during a seven-point serving run to give the Panthers a quick 10-2 advantage.
- Plymouth State added a six-point run behind three MacNeill kills to push the lead to 16-3 and a Flanagan kill wrapped up a 25-7 victory.
- RIC took advantage of four straight Panthers' miscues to build a 12-9 lead in set three. PSU got to within 12-11, but the hosts ran off four straight points and held on to take set three by a 25-15 margin.
- The Anchorwomen took an early two-point lead in set four, before PSU used a 10-1 run to take control. Leading 15-9, Flanagan's kill sparked another Plymouth State run as Flanagan and Ryan combined for a block to make it 20-9.
- Junior Alexa Price (Moultonborough, N.H.) secured the 25-14 win with a solo block.
By the Numbers:
- PSU held the Anchorwomen to a -.009 attack percentage, while the Panthers hit .151.
- Flanagan and Price both finished with five aces, with Flanagan adding four kills and four blocks and Price posting 29 assists.
- Junior Hannah Douglas (Rochester, N.H.) led all players with 14 digs, while classmate Hannah Chartier (Weare, N.H.) added 11.
- The Panthers have won four-of-five against RIC.
Up Next:
- PSU heads to Castleton University a week from Wednesday (Apr. 7) for an LEC battle with the Spartans. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.
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