Salem State Tops Curry in Four Sets

Jose Rodriguez '24, Staff Writer | Media & Communications

SALEM, Mass. -- Salem State topped Curry 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 25-10) in non-conference action at Twohig Gymnasium on Saturday. The win propels Salem State to 8-10 on the season while the Colonels go to 4-20.   

Presley Shairs and Abigail O'Connor combined for 17 kills, eight digs and four blocks for the Vikings. Kailey Roche led all players with 23 digs while Celia Carbone had 16 assists and three digs. Dawn Eisnor chipped in with four aces and seven digs.

Emma St. Cyr produced 14 assistss and eight digs for the Colonels. Lauren Guzman compiled seven kills and seven digs while Avia Fraine had a team-high nine digs.

The game between Salem State and Curry started off as a highly competitive match. The Vikings began the game on a strong note, taking a 5-3 lead. However, the game became even more intense when Dawn Eisnor set up Eva Haralabatos, who then passed the ball to Presley Shairs, and the latter finished off with a powerful spike. Early in the game, Salem State scored on four different occasions due to service errors by their opponents, which gave them an advantage in the first set. Shairs played a big role in the early part of the game, with six kills during the first set. At a score of 20-18, Salem State was leading, but the Colonels made the Vikings work hard to close down the set which forced coach McNulty to call a time-out when the score was tied at 23. After the time-out, Salem State was able to score the last two points and O'Connor. sealed the set with a kill.   

During the second set, Shairs had an average of six points with five kills, while Jess Sullivan and Guzman had an average of three and two points, respectively, and two kills each. The score was 3-1 in favor of the Vikings when Colonels' Leah Oscar-Phoenix attacked and scored, barely making it in, to narrow the Vikings' lead to 3-2. The game became a back and forth battle between the two teams as they were evenly matched. The score was tied at 5 when Salem State was able to go on a 6-1 run against the Colonels, and they had a lead of 14-8, which forced coach Hollis to call a time-out. Later in the game, the Vikings had complete domination, leading by eleven points by a score of 20-9. Curry tried to make things interesting by going on a 5-2 run, highlighted twice by Emma Hobart kills, but Salem State was able to win the second set 25-13. 

During the second set, Phoenix had an average of five points per game, and five different Colonels had two kills each while Emma St. Cyr had seven assists. For Salem State, Shairs was leading the charge with eight points and seven assists, while Eva Haralabatos had six assists.   

Salem State was looking to close the door in set three, but both teams were highly competitive from the beginning. The Colonels went on a 6-2 run against Salem State, which put them in the lead. As the game progressed, the Vikings were down by two, by a score of 10-8, and were looking to get back in the game. Salem State called a time-out when the score was 15-10, as they were looking to make a comeback. Phillips put one inside the line from Roche when Salem State was down by three. The score was 22-16, and Salem State was looking for a late-minute comeback. When the score reached 23-20, coach McNulty called a time-out to regroup the team. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as they lost set three by a score of 25-23.    

The Vikings pulled away in set four after trailing 6-5. Eisnor led the attack, racking up three aces as Salem State surged ahead 15-6. Leading 16-8, Salem State scored six straight points to take a commanding 22-8 lead with Dailey and O'Connor each registering a pair of kills before winning the set and match by a score of 25-10.