Owls Rally Past Vikings in Four Sets

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Emma Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) led a balanced attack with ten kills as the Owls rallied past Salem State in four sets (21-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-12) in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game from Salem, Mass. on Wednesday night.

The Owls have now won four consecutive games, improving to 3-0 in the conference and 9-10 overall. The Vikings drop to 2-15 on the season and 0-3 in the league.

Hanna Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) joined her sister atop the kill leaders in the match, posting nine kills followed by Sydney Cummins (Nicholasville, Ky.) who registered eight kills to go along with a game-leading 16 digs. Morgan Dority (Walpole, Mass.) led the Owls with 14 assists.

The Owls service game was a strength in the match, tallying 13 service aces led by four apiece from Allie Hill (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) and Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev.).

After falling in the first set, the Owls pulled away in the middle of the second set to take command of the frame. Leading 14-11, Westfield ripped off six straight points with four of those points ending in kills, two from Emma Nihill and one from Julia Bartiet (Cheshire, Conn.) and Dority. The Owls won the second set off a setting error from Salem, evening the match at one all.

The final two sets were dominated by the Owls. With the score even at four, the Owls racked up 13 of the next 15 points in the set to run out to a commanding 17-6 advantage after an ace from Bingham. Later in the frame, Julia Dangel-Garcia (Ashland, Mass.) set up Hanna Nihill for a set-winning slam, giving the Owls a two sets to one lead.

Westfield closed the match strong on the service game of Cummins as the Owls would score six unanswered points to draw within two points of a match victory. Bingham delivered a kill to pull to game-point, then Emma Nihill entered double-figure kills with the final point of the game, sealing an Owls victory.

Presley Shairs (Salem, Mass.) led Salem with nine kills while Bella Coccia (Westfield, Mass.) totaled five kills. Celia Carbone (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Eva Haralabatos (Melrose, Mass.) each had eight assists while Keira Doherty (Woburn, Mass.) added 15 digs for the Vikings.

Westfield State will travel to Smith College for a pair of matches against Wheaton at 2:00 P.M., then the host Pioneers at 4:00 P.M.