Salve Regina takes first home
match in five games (12-30, 31-29, 30-22, 21-30, 15-9)


NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University women's volleyball overcame a poor
first-game showing to defeat UMass Dartmouth, for the first time ever,
three games to two in a non-league contest. The Seahawks survived four
game points against in the second game as second-year setter Elspeth Dana
[SO/ Alton, N.H.] collected three service aces among the final six points
to even the match score at one game apiece.

In game three, the Seahawks raced to a 26-9 lead before a service error
gave the Corsairs control of the ball. UMass Dartmouth went on a 13-3 run,
but it wasn't enough as Salve Regina closed the game with a successful
attack from senior co-captain Shauna Crounse [SR/ North Attleboro, Mass.].
The Corsairs made an early lead hold up in the fourth game, setting the
stage for a fifth and deciding game.

With Salve Regina (3-2) serving first in game five, both teams worked a
side-out before the home team built a 8-2 advantage. The Seahawks
maintained the six-point lead the rest of the way on the strength of nine
kills (out of 15 points) in the final game.

Crounse finished with 17 kills including five in the decisive game; Dana
assisted on 35 of her teammates' kills. For UMass Dartmouth (2-4), Lauren
Daly [JR/ Brockton, Mass.] recorded 41 assists and four service aces while
Aly Zagame [FR/ Greenfield, Mass.] contributed a dozen digs.

Salve Regina, over .500 for the first time after five games into a season,
registers its first triumph in five meetings with UMass Dartmouth. The
Seahawks play a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matches at
Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass., on Saturday.