October 13, 2008
San Antonio – Sarah Moreno and Kirsten Chapman each had career highs in kills, but it wasn’t enough as Bentley University rallied to defeat St. Mary’s University, 20-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13, in non-conference volleyball action Monday night at Bill Greehey Arena.
Moreno (Sr., Pearland) easily topped her previous career high of 18 kills with 24 Monday night. She also tied for the team high with five blocks and had a .417 attack percentage. Chapman (Fr., Jourdanton) had only reached double figures in kills once before Monday, but picked up 16 kills and tied Moreno for the team lead in blocks with five. Katelyn Kershner (So., San Antonio) also got in on the action with 12 kills and 13 digs for a double-double.
The Rattlers started the match strong, winning the first set 25-20. Bentley came back to win the second set, leading from start to finish, 25-16. St. Mary’s picked up a tough 25-22 win in the third set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes, to take a two sets to one lead. The fourth set was a nip-and-tuck affair as well with the score tied 10 times and five lead changes. But Bentley pulled out the win in the end, taking a 25-21 win that tied the match at two sets each. That set up the decisive final set.
Bentley took the early lead in the set at 7-4 thanks to two kills each by Virginia Wong and Andrea Farah. The Rattlers then tied the set at seven thanks to a pair of blocks and a kill by Kershner. Bentley retook the lead and had an 11-9 advantage late in the set. But Kershner had one kill and Chapman added two more to give the Rattlers a 12-11 lead. After a time out Kristine Mickelson came back with two kills to give Bentley the lead again. An attack error made it 14-12, but a Tori Piskulick service error pulled the Rattlers to within one at 14-13. Wong ended the drama with a kill to wrap up the match.
The statistics were almost identical in the match with the Rattlers picking up 63 kills to Bentley’s 61. Bentley had 77 digs, while the Rattlers picked up 76. Bentley had nine blocks, with St. Mary’s making seven.
With the loss the Rattlers have now lost four in row and are 6-11 overall this season. Bentley improved to 14-8. St. Mary’s will return to action on Friday when they host Oklahoma Panhandle State University at 7 p.m. in Bill Greehey Arena in a Heartland Conference match.