Volleyball Swept as Conference Play Begins

NASHUA, N.H. – The Mitchell College women's volleyball team opened up Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play by dropping both games of a tri-match on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-2 to Dean College and 3-1 against Rivier University at Bishop Guertin High School.

The Mariners (2-6, 0-2 GNAC) will return to action on Wednesday, September 20th, when they continue GNAC play on the road at Albertus Magnus College.

Game 1 – Dean 3, Mitchell 2

After dropping the opening set 25-19, the Mariners bounced right back and took down the Bulldogs 26-24 to even things at 1-1, as Allison Blum (Garden Grove, Cali.) and Bliss Brown (Rainbow City, Ala.) closed things out with back to back kills. Dean would take the third set by a score of 25-20, before the Mariners once again rebounded, this time by pounding the Bulldogs 25-12. In the dominating fourth set, Mitchell led 19-11 when Dean took a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Mariners closed by scoring six of the final seven points. Unfortunately for Mitchell, the Bulldogs came out on top in the deciding set, scoring the final five points to turn a 14-11 deficit into a 16-14 victory.

Bliss Brown led the Mariners with 20 kills and 28 digs. Allison Blum added 14 kills and 27 digs, while Jenna Blankenship (Virden, Ill.) tallied 20 assists and 22 digs. Hannah O'Brien also (Riverside, R.I.) finished with 13 assists and 11 digs, and Julia Lent (Miller Place, N.Y.) was credited with 12 digs.

Game 2 – Rivier 3, Mitchell 1

The Mariners picked up momentum early against the Raiders, taking the opening set 25-22, as Bliss Brown, Sarah Aviles (Griswold, Conn.) and Kiersten Veenstra (Three Rivers, MI) notched two kills apiece. Late in the set, the Bulldogs scored two straight points to make the score 24-22, but Brown notched a kill to give Mitchell a 1-0 lead. The Mariners would then drop three straight sets by scores of 25-14, 26-24, and 25-19, finding themselves unable to match the performance of the opening stanza.

Allison Blum paced Mitchell with a team-high 13 kills, while Aviles added 11 kills, and Brown recorded 23 assists and 13 digs. Julia Lent had a team-best 17 digs to go along with seven assists, and Julianna Repaci (New Britain, Conn.) finished with double figure digs (15) for the fourth time this season.