MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College women's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Salem State University on Thursday night in a non-conference showdown at the Katz Gymnasium. The win moves the Vikings to 9-10 while the Colonels drop to 8-10.
Salem State won by set scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-18 as Jasmine Severino (Lawrence, Mass.) supplied a team-high seven kills. Mackenzie Salls (Turner Falls, Mass.) paced the visitors with 20 assists while Hannah Mullarkey (Salem, Mass.) registered 17 digs, including the 1,000th of her career.
Grace Stafford (West Yarmouth, Mass.) and Nicole Rice (Woburn, Mass.) led Curry with seven kills apiece. Monica Wilkes (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) registered 19 assists while Courtney Carroll (Fairhaven, Mass.) recorded 16 digs in the loss.
The Colonels jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the early going, but the Vikings would come back to tie the set at eight apiece. Salem State grabbed a seven-point lead after an error on Wilkes at 18-11. Curry outscored the Vikings 8-7 over the remainder of the set, but it was the Vikings to take the opening game by a 25-19 final.
The squads traded the first 18 points of the second set before either could gain the advantage. The Colonels started to create separation when they scored four straight points off attack errors by Salem State to grab a 15-10 lead. Curry pushed the lead to as many as seven (20-13), but the Vikings would come storming back. They embarked on a 12-1 run, fueled by the serving of Dina Roman (Iwakuni, Japan), five errors on the Colonels and four kills from the visitors. With the score tied at 21, four straight points, including three aces from Mullarkey gave Salem State the second set victory, 25-21.
The teams split the first 18 points in the third set. Following an attack error by Chloe Roy (West Springfield, Mass.), the Vikings scored eight straight points, capped off by a kill by Severino. Curry closed the deficit late to as little as four (22-18) but three straight errors by the Colonels gave the Vikings the set and the match in straight sets.
Curry hits the road for seven straight matches beginning on Saturday. The Colonels travel to Suffolk to take on the Rams at 11:00 a.m. and Norwich at 1:00 p.m. Salem State returns to conference action at home against Fitchburg State on Saturday, October 14 at 1:00 p.m.
