Vikings Drop Two in Tri-Meet

STANDISH, MAINE – Salem State volleyball travelled to Standish, Maine to take on Simmons University and Saint Joseph's College (Maine) in a tri-match hosted by the Monks. The Vikings dropped the first match to the Sharks in three sets (25-11, 25-12, 25-22) before facing the same fate against the Monks (25-11, 25-14, 25-13) to go 0-2 on the day.

MATCH 1

The Vikings were led by Presley Shairs (Salem, Mass.) who had six kills, while Kailey Roche (Billerica, Mass.) and Grace Dailey (Peabody, Mass.) both recorded six digs with Roches also tacking on nine assists.

On the other side, Joenissa Ortiz (Catano, Puerto Rico) had five kills, six aces, and 14 digs for the Sharks and teammate, Claire Conners (Albany, Calif.), had seven kills in the win.

A kill by Shairs put the Vikings up two points to open the first set before the Sharks went on to score eight unanswered points, including Ortiz's six aces, to give them the 8-2 cushion. This would be as close as the Vikings would get for the remainder of the stanza as the Sharks went on to take the first set 25-11.

After struggling to string points together to start the second set, the Vikings were able to score three unanswered points to bring the score to 17-10 and them within seven points of the Sharks. Shortly after, the Sharks went on a run of their own, accumulating six unanswered points, which would provide them with the momentum to close out the set, 25-12, in their favor.

After three service aces from Charlotte Orth (Bourne, Mass.), the Vikings jumped out to the early 6-1 lead to start the third. The Sharks would fight back to bring it within one before a Shairs' kill gave her team a 9-5 cushion. The Sharks fought back and tied the game at nine after an ace from Nicole Tverskoy (Needham, Mass.) before taking the lead the next play after a Vikings' error. The Sharks would hold onto the slim lead throughout the remainder of the set to take the 25-22 victory and eventual 3-0 win over the Vikings.   

Match 2

Shairs and Dailey continued to be a bright spot for the Vikings as they amounted five kills and 10 digs, respectively, in the second match.

The Monks were spearheaded by Maggie Sylvester (Barrington, N.H.) and Nadia Sixto (Chattanooga, Tenn.) who had seven and six kills, respectively, while Hanna Holden (Stoughton, Mass.) assisted on 13 points for Saint Joseph's College.

Both squads exchanged points to begin the first set before the Monks took charge scoring seven unanswered points to give them the 9-4 advantage. The Monks would go through various runs to carry them to the 25-11 first set victory.

After back-to-back aces, the Monks secured an early 4-0 on the Vikings before a Dailey kill stopped the bleeding. Salem State continued to fight after an ace from Abigail O'Connor (Gilford, N.H.) and an error on the Monks brought the score to 6-5 and the Vikings within one. From there, Saint Joseph's went on a 10-0 run to take the commanding 16-5 lead which would prove to be too much as they went on to take the second set by a score of 25-14.

The Vikings started the third set strong keeping the Monks at bay and within reach for a majority of the opening points. Dawn Eisnor (Medford, Mass.) scored back-to-back points for the Vikings to give her team the 11-10 lead. The one- point cushion would be Salem State's last lead of the game as Saint Joseph's College scored nine unanswered points to close out the set 25-13 and take the 3-0 victory over the Vikings.