NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack volleyball team proved
it will be a major factor in the conference and region with a
convincing 3-0 win over rival and preseason conference favorite
Bentley Tuesday night at the Volpe Gym.
Game scores were 25-15, 25-20, 25-23.
The loss was just the third in the last 49 regular season conference matches for Bentley, dating back to the start of the 2005 season.
Ale Kuncaitis (Canton, MA) led the way with 15 kills, 16
digs, and two service aces, while hitting .351. Molly
Cindric (Westlake Village, CA) added 11 kills and seven
digs, while Elyse Lorenz (Frankfort, IL) added a
double-double on 42 assists and 10 digs. Merrimack hit .298 overall
and committed just 11 attack errors, while getting seven service
aces to just one for Bentley.
Bentley started quickly, scoring the game’s first three
points, but the Warriors answered with eight straight points,
including two aces from Lorenz. They led by as much as 16-9 in the
first set and cruised to a 25-15 win on a kill from Kuncaitis.
Merrimack led in the second set from 3-2 on and by as much as
five. Kristin Applegate (Hampstead, NH) would
close the second set out getting the kill off a ball handling error
from Bentley.
In the third, the Falcons led 12-9, but Merrimack evened it at 16
off a Kuncaitis kill. With the score deadlocked at 22, Kuncaitis
tallied a kill, and the Falcons committed an attack error to bring
Merrimack within one point of the win. Bentley’s Virginia
Wong followed with a kill, but Merrimack did not quit, as Kuncaitis
sealed the win off a lengthy rally.
Alyssa Pickert (Tinley Park, IL) tallied 13 digs, while
Lisa Barr (Alberta, Canada) posted 10 kills and
hit .409.
Wong totaled eight kills and nine digs, while Kristine Mickelson
added a team-high 11 kills and six blocking assists for the
Falcons, who dropped to 12-7 overall, 6-1 in the conference..
Both teams entered Tuesday’s match unbeaten in the
conference, with New Haven also perfect thus far in the
Northeast-10. Merrimack hosts New Haven in the team’s final
home game on November 4.
The Warriors (10-7, 5-0 NE-10) have eight days off until they host
UMass Lowell on Wednesday at 7 p.m.