Vikings Lose Twice at Wentworth Tri-Meet

BOSTON – Salem State squared off against Wentworth and Northern Vermont-Johnson is a tri-meet at Tansey Gymnasium on Saturday. The Host Leopards defeated Salem State 3-0 (25-20, 25-8, 25-15) in the Vikings' first match of the day before Badgers took out Salem State in five sets (30-28, 23-25, 25-20, 25-8, 15-13. The Vikings are now 0-13 on the year.

After a 25-20 Salem State loss in set one, the Leopards hit.464 in the second set to cruise to a 17-point victory. Four straight aces in set three by Ashley Lavigne (Waterford, N.Y.) broke open a close game as Wentworth won five straight points to build a 19-13 lead before closing out the win on two attack errors by the Vikings.

Ashley Lavigne had six aces, nine digs and 13 assists on the day. Devin Neal (Lebanon, Ohio) had a match-high nine kills while, Jade Iadarola (Miami, Fla.) had five kills, nine digs and four of the Leopards' 14 aces. Viviann Goulet (North Kingstown, R.I.) had six kills and nine digs and Peyton Tague (The Woodlands, Texas) contributed with 12 digs.

Darcy McDowell (Goshen, N.Y.) led the Vikings with five kills and six digs. Emily Hennessy (Hanover, Mass.) had four kills and 13 digs while Morgan Adams (Scotia, N.Y.) had 11 assists.

Salem State lost a tough first set to the Badgers 30-28 before rebounding with a 25-23 victory in set two. The Vikings hit .207 and committed just three errors. Back-to-back aces by McDowell and a kill by Alexandra Maloney (Bridgewater, Mass.) gave the Vikings a 22-16 lead. Northern Vermont-Johnson came back and trimmed the margin to a points, but kills by Adams and Haley Reed (Goffstown, N.H.) secured the two-point win.

Tied at 18-all in the third set, Salem State scored three straight points off the serve of Michel Le (Dorchester, Mass.) before kills by Reed, Genevieve Kempster (Hopedale, Mass.) and an attack error by Northern Vermont-Johnson gave Salem State a 25-20 win.

The Badgers cruised to a 25-8 win in set four and held off a late rally by Salem State in set five. Trailing 14-10, the Vikings benefitted from three straight errors to pull within a point, but a crucial service error by Salem State gave the Badgers a two-point win.

Lauren Havill (Gainsville, Va.) had 15 kills and nine digs for Northern Vermont-Johnson. Porsche Johnson (Dallas, Texas) compiled 18 kills, and 17 digs. Nikola Knapova (Presov, Slovakia) posted 10 kills and 13 digs. Ashley Emery (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) had seven kills and a match-high a6 digs. Mason Lores (Englewood, Colo.) chipped in with 49 assists.

The Vikings were led by six kills and nine digs from McDowell. Le, Adams, Kempster, Reed and Hennessy all finished in double-digits in digs. Adams posted 18 assists in the match.