PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Southern Connecticut volleyball defeated Pace, 3-2 on Tuesday night in an NE10 matchup. The Owls improved to an overall record of 12-4 and an NE10 record of 3-1. The Setters dropped to an overall record of 8-8 and an NE10 record of 0-5.
Kerrigan Habing and
Kimi Mitchell had another impressive match, where they both recorded double-doubles, as Habing had a career-best of 24 kills and 14 digs while Mitchell had a career-best of 46 assists and matched a career-best of 18 digs.
Sydney Bennett had 12 kills, and
Sarah Stark had eight kills.
Sarah Henault had a team-best of 25 digs while
Victoria Pascual had 18 digs.
Sarah Henault and
Kimi Mitchell led the Owls with two service aces.
Sydney Bennett had a team-best of five blocks,
Kerrigan Habing had three and
Elena Bianchi had two blocks against the Setters.
In the first set, the Owls jumped to a 2-0 lead, with a kill from
Katie Bardak and an assist by
Kimi Mitchell and an attack error by Pace. After that, both teams had their share of the lead and tie scorelines. The Setters took back the lead back and despite the Owls' efforts, Pace held on to win the first set, 25-21.
In the second set, with kills by
Sydney Bennett, service aces from
Dylan Marney and
Sarah Henault and attack errors from Pace, the Owls took an early, 10-3 advantage over the Setters. After that, Pace looked to make a comeback but Southern stayed in control and extended their lead to 17-10, due to kills from
Victoria Pascual,
Sarah Stark and
Kerrigan Habing. The Owls kept their momentum going towards the end of the set, with a set-winning kill by
Sydney Bennett, which was assisted by
Kimi Mitchell, as they won the set 25-14.
In the third set, Southern continued with their momentum that they had in the second set as they worked quickly to a 6-0 lead, with kills from
Sydney Bennett,
Elena Bianchi and
Sarah Stark. Following that, the Owls grew their advantage to 17-11, with back-to-back kills from
Kerrigan Habing. The Setters got within three points of the Owls; however, Southern won the set, 25-21, with a kill from Habing and an assist from Henault.
In the fourth set,
Sarah Stark and
Elena Bianchi recorded the first two kills of the set for the Owls. Pace then took a 6-3 lead over Southern, as the Owls looked to put points back on the board. The Setters kept their advantage as it grew to 15-12 over the Owls. Southern added some points and cut into the lead of Pace; however, the Setters won, 25-19 and forced a fifth set against the Owls.
In the fifth set, Southern took an early, 5-1 lead with kills from
Sydney Bennett and
Kerrigan Habing. The Owls stayed in control as they finished the match with six unanswered points, to win the fifth set, 15-8 and won 3-2 over Pace.
The Owls will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 23 in Waterbury, Conn. in their last non-conference matchup of the season against Post University at 6:00 p.m.
