Roger Williams Ruins Volleyball's CCC Opener in Four Frames

BOSTON – On a historic night in Suffolk volleyball history, senior captain Harmony Johnson became the fifth player to dish out 1,000 assists, and the Rams began a new era competing in their first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) contest against Roger Williams. The Hawks proved to be too much for the blue-and-gold, however, to spoil the league debut for Suffolk, 3-1, behind set scores of 25-18, 17-25, 25-16 and 25-20.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1 | Roger Williams 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-7, 0-1 CCC) | Roger Williams (1-6, 1-0 CCC)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-18, ROGER WILLIAMS)

• The set scored locked 11 ties and the lead exchanged seven to keep things interesting at the midway point with Suffolk ahead, 15-14. 
• Roger Williams outscored the hosts 6-0, a stretch that was not stalled by pair of blue-and-gold timeouts, to put the Rams in a 21-15 hole. 
• An attack error by the visitors looked to spark something for Suffolk. 
• Instead, the Hawks coupled back-to-back points in response to regain a seven-point margin, 23-16. 
• A kill by Liv Sargent stalled Roger Williams, but not for long as the teams traded the final three points of the frame, which ended in the visitors favor. 

SET TWO RECAP (25-17, SUFFOLK)

• RWU put the first point on the board before the Rams roared back with four consecutive points to make the crowd in the basement of the Ridgeway building electric.
• The blue-and-gold's 4-1 edge grew to an 11-6 margin, which forced the Hawks to use a timeout. 
• Out of the huddle the Rams kept their foot on the gas pedal to push matters to 17-9. 
• A rebuttal from Roger Williams did come in the form of a 5-0 stretch that cut the distance down to four, 17-13. 
• Scott Blanchard used a timeout to calm down his team and it worked. The Rams outscored the Hawks, 4-1, out of the break to restore a seven-point gap, 21-14. 
• Roger Williams used it timeout and unlike Suffolk's it did not help as the hosts managed to go tick-for-tack the rest of the way to even the match.  

SET THREE RECAP (25-16, ROGER WILLIAMS)

• Roger Williams built an 8-4 edge that forced Suffolk into a timeout early. 
• The Rams sprang out of the break with three points in a row capped off by an ace from McKenna Keowen that pulled the hosts within one, 8-7. 
• A 4-0 run by the Hawks turned into a 9-2 stretch to make Suffolk trail, 16-9. 
• Every time the Rams attempted to chip away RWU answered to keep a healthy lead that couldn't be relinquished.

SET FOUR RECAP (25-20, ROGER WILLIAMS)

• From a 5-all tie, Roger Williams flipped the script in its favor on a kill by Katherine Pickard and never gave up the upper hand the rest of the way. 
• Suffolk hung with the Hawks and back-to-back aces by Morgan Kesley looked to give the Rams momentum as the points made it a one-point stanza, 14-13. 
• RUW used a timeout to recuperate and quickly rebuilt a four-point deficit, 17-13. 
• The Rams were persistent and stayed within two points, 20-18. 
• The Hawks doubled that distance to 22-18 and outscored Suffolk 5-2 the rest of the way to lock up the conference victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Keowen finished with a. 19-kills, 12-dig double-double effort. 
• Julia Leavey and Emily Wheeler each added six kills Suffolk's 42-kill attack. 
• Alina Nowakowski had an all-around evening with five kills, two digs, two blocks and one helper.
• Johnson and Jayla Martinez split time at setter with 17 handouts and 15 assists, respectively.  
• Kenzley Bell anchored the defense with 17 digs. 
• Kelsey added 10 digs to the defense and two aces to the offense. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk competed in its first-ever CCC match. 
• The Rams and Hawks met for the 17th time overall, first time since Sept. 22, 2009. 
• Johnson joined Suffolk's 1,000 assist club. She is just the fifth player in the Rams' record book to do so and first since Talia Lombardo '19 hit the mark Oct. 25, 2018. 
• Johnson earned her 1,000-career helper in just 42 matches, which makes her the fastest Ram to reach the milestone. 
• Keowen logged her third double-double, first since a 22-kill, 14-dig effort in a five-set win over Lasell Sept. 16, 2021.  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk hits the road Saturday, Sept. 25 for a CCC showdown at Endicott. First serve in Beverly, Massachusetts, is set for 1 p.m.