Skidmore Downs Volleyball in Three

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Suffolk volleyball opened action the Union Invitational with a straight set setback to Skidmore Friday night at the Viniar Athletic Center. The Rams fell by set scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-17. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 0 | Skidmore 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (2-3) | Skidmore (2-3) 

SET ONE RECAP (25-21, SKIDMORE)

• From a two-all tie, Skidmore outscored Suffolk 5-2 to go ahead 7-4, which forced Scott Blanchard to use his first timeout early. 
• From the huddle the Ram splayed catch-up and back-to-back kills from Jasmine James and Isabelle Huzar sliced the gap down to two, 9-7. 
• Despite James and Huzar recording another kill apiece, a 3-0 spurt from the Thoroughbreds put Suffolk in a six-point, 15-9 hole. 
• The distance remained at five, 20-15, as Blanchard took his second timeout of the frame.
• A Rams' rally came out of this break as McKenna Keowen supplied two kills and an ace and James pitched in one to pull the blue-and-gold within three, 22-19. 
• This time Skidmore used a break to calm down Suffolk. James remained red hot after the talk as she added another two kills to her stat line, but it would not be enough to hold off the Thoroughbreds, who went point-for-point with the Norwood, Massachusetts, native to seal the set. 

SET TWO RECAP (25-21, SKIDMORE)

• James and Keowen picked up where they left off as the duo struck for the first point points of the frame. The former knocked down a kill, her seventh on the day, with the latter serving an ace. 
• Skidmore responded with an 11-4 run that flipped the script five points in the Thoroughbreds' favor, 11-6. 
• Errors on either side kept the five-point margin in tacked until James notched another kill. 
• The rookie's eighth kill of the day ignited the Rams on a small rally that made things interesting 18-15. 
• After Keowen hit her seventh kill on the night a Skidmore attack error got the Rams within one, 19-18. 
• Skidmore regained its composure in a time to remain in front the rest of the way.  

SET THREE RECAP (25-17, SKIDMORE)

• The Thoroughbreds put the first four points on the board. 
• The Rams responded with a 4-0 run of their own to even the score. The stretch featured kills from Keowen and two from Huzar. 
• Huzar stayed on a tear with her third kill of the set to lock things at five before Morgan Kelsey served an ace to give Suffolk the go ahead, 6-5. 
• See-saw action continued as the score sat at 10-all before the Thoroughbreds assembled an 8-2 run that made things lopsided in Skidmore's favor, 18-12. 
• The Rams had to play catchup and managed to come within three, 20-17. 
• It was all Skidmore the rest of the way as it put up the final five points to seal Suffolk's straight set setback.   

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• James and Keowen each finished with nine kills. Keowen added two aces to the offense and paced the defense with five digs. 
• Harmony Johnson and Jayla Martinez set up the attack with 14 assists and seven assists, respectively. 
• Kelsey, Kenzley Bell, and Johnson supplied four digs to the defense that saw a block apiece from James and Julia Leavey.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Skidmore tangled for the first time. 
• James set a career-high in kills (9), while Keowen matched her personal best in kills (9).  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk wraps up day one of the Union Invitational at 7 p.m. tonight against Springfield.