Martinez Joins 1000 Assist Club, Volleyball Falls in Four to Wentworth

BOSTON – In its regular-season finale, Suffolk women's volleyball dropped a 3-1 decision to Wentworth in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. In the match, Jayla Martinez etched her name in the Rams' record book as the sixth-ever Ram to handout 1,000 assists.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1 | Wentworth 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (15-13, 4-4 CCC) |Wentworth (21-5, 8-0 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Out of a 6-all tie, Wentworth leaped ahead to a 13-8 lead that grew to a 19-12 cushion. A McKenna Keowen kill, her third of the day, a 4-1 Suffolk spurt that put the host within four, 20-16. The Leopards coupled back-to-back points to restore a six-point gap, which forced Scott Blanchard to use his second timeout of the set.  

WIT scored the first point out of the break, before the Rams rattled off four straight, including a pair of kills from Jessica Weber and one by Jasmines James to cut the deficit down to three, 23-20. The visitors went on to seal the set on kills from Emma Sanders and Riley Waggoner. 

The second stanza was a back-and-forth affair with four lead exchanges and seven tied scores, the last at 15-all when Weber sent home her ninth kill of the match. From there, WIT outscored Suffolk, 7-2, to grab a 22-17 advantage. The Rams rallied out of their last time out of the frame, stringing together a 4-1 stretch that made it a one-point margin and saw the Leopards use their first timeout of the day.  

A Wentworth attack error leveled the playing field then Morgan Kelsey served up an ace to push the blue-and-gold in front, 24-23. See-saw action ensued out of the Leopards final timeout. The visitors logged two consecutive points to regain the edge before Martinez first ace of the afternoon evened matters at 25-all. Weber knocked down another kill, her 12th of the day, and Martinez served her second ace to push Suffolk to a 27-25 victory. 

Suffolk faced a double-digit deficit early on. The Rams attempt to climb out of the hole and got back within five, 22-17, but the Leopards went on to score three in a row to take the set. 

WIT jumped out to a 7-1 lead that grew to 18-8. Suffolk attempted a comeback and chipped the distance down to single digits three times with the last at 23-14. The Leopards wrapped up the win with kills from Riley Schoonmaker and Ema Thompson.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Martinez finished with 43 assists, six digs, one block, one ace and a pair of kills
• Keowen notched 17 kills on a .342 attack percentage with eight digs, three blocks, two aces and two assists. 
• Weber tallied 17 kills, eight digs and three blocks. 
• Jasmine James added six kills, four digs and one block. 
• Grace Cervenka contributed six kills, six digs and four blocks.  
• Kelsey led the defnse with 17 digs to go along with one ace and one helper. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Wentworth went four sets for the ninth time, first since Oct. 5, 2021. 
• The Rams are now 4-5 all-time in four set decisions versus WIT. 
• Martinez became the sixth member of Suffolk's 1,000-assist club, first since Harmony Johnson accomplished the feat Sept. 23, 2021 versus Roger Williams. 
• Prior to first serve, the Rams recognized their graduating players James and Emily Wheeler.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk awaits the official seeding of the 2023 CCC Tournament.