Olhava, Smith & Patlovich Lead 'Cats to Holly Young Invitational Title

Saturday, September 16

12:30 PM

University of New Hampshire

4-9

University of Rhode Island

4-7

URI

UNHVB

Olhava, Smith & Patlovich Lead 'Cats to Holly Young Invitational Title

9/16/2017 10:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 URI Video Highlights DC Video Highlights

Wildcats Defeat URI and Dartmouth on Saturday to Win Title

DURHAM, N.H. -- Gabri Olhava (Mount Prospect, Ill.) matched a career-high 17 kills against the University of Rhode Island and Kennedi Smith (The Woodlands, Texas) tied her personal best of 17 kills against Dartmouth College to lead the University of New Hampshire volleyball team to a pair of victories and the Holly Young Invitational title Saturday at Memorial Gym.

UNH defeated URI, 3-2, by set scores of 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 15-7 in the Wildcats' first match of the day. The Wildcats concluded tournament action and secured first place with a sweep of intrastate rival Dartmouth; the set scores were 25-19, 25-23, 25-17.

UNH improved to 4-0 at home and 5-9 overall.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Olhava and Smith were joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammate Emma Patlovich (Lake Bluff, Ill.).
The All-Tournament Team was also comprised of: Jessie Blaze and Kylee Wolfe (URI); Sara Lindquist (DC) and Antonija Ivanovich (Siena).

Up Next

UNH will head to UMass Lowell on Sept. 22 at 7 pm for their first match in America East conference play.
The Wildcats' next home match is Oct. 6 (7 p.m.) against Stony Brook.

UNH		URI
53	Kills	46
24	Errors	31
.199	Hitting Pct.	.101
48	Assists	42
2 / 15	Aces / Serve Errors	12 / 14
66	Digs	60
6	Blocks	12

TOP 'CATS vs. RHODE ISLAND

Gabri Olhava: 17 kills, .412 hitting percentage, seven digs, three blocks
Kennedi Smith: 11 kills, 18 digs, three blocks
Emma Patlovich (Lake Bluff, Ill.): 27 assists
Logan Welti (Middleton, Wis.): 19 digs
Molly Wotton (Dover, N.H.): 11 kills, .500 hitting percentage, three blocks

THE DIFFERENCE

Despite falling short in the third and fourth sets, the Wildcats were able to bounce back in a strong way, winning the final set by a score of 15-7.
In the decisive fifth set, UNH's offense was in sync with a .381 hitting percentage and the defensive effort stymied the Rams to a negative hitting percentage (-.050).

SET 1

There were seven ties and three lead changes in the opening set. Both offense attacked at a prolific rate with UNH recording a .526 hitting percentage and URI at .304.
The set was tied 10-10, before a 7-2 run by the Wildcats put them ahead 17-12.
The Rams scored four of the next five points, making the score 18-16.
UNH responded with a 5-1 run to build a 23-17 advantage.
URI inched within 24-21 but a kill by Hannah Petke (Rancho Santa Margarita) gave New Hampshire the first set.

SET 2

There were five lead changes and six ties in the second set.
After falling behind early, UNH regained the lead at 9-8 and never looked back.
The longest run of the set came when the Wildcats scored three in a row, resulting in the larges lead of Set 2, 20-14.
URI tried to mount a late comeback and a 3-1 spurt narrowed the gap to 24-21, but the Rams lost the next point on an attack error to fall behind in the match, 2-0.

SET 3

There were eight tie scores and three lead changes in the third set.
UNH had a strong start to the set, jumping out to an early 5-1 lead.
Trailing 10-5, URI scored six straight points to take an 11-10 lead.
UNH regained the lead for the last time at 13-12, as the Rams immediately surged back in front, 15-13.
After this, neither team went on any long runs and URI held on to win the set, 25-2, on a kill by Jenna McGuire.

SET 4

There were no lead changes or ties during the fourth set.
URI jumped out to an early 6-1 lead and never looked back.
The largest lead of the set came when URI held a 20-11 advantage.
UNH closed the gap to 24-18, but a kill by Marie Gillcrist closed out the set and leveled the match at 2-2.

SET 5

There was one lead change and three ties in the final set.
URI took an early lead as they scored the first two points en route to a 4-2 advantage.
With the gamed tied at five to five, UNH went on a 9-1 run, including a stretch of seven consecutive points, to take a 14-6 lead. Smith recorded four kills during that decisive stretch.
Rhode Island fought off one match point, but the Wildcats ultimately won the set – by a score of 15-7 – and match.

UNH		DC
44	Kills	29
22	Errors	21
.193	Hitting Pct.	.075
42	Assists	26
5 / 3	Aces / Serve Errors	4 / 2
50	Digs	40
7	Blocks	10

TOP 'CATS vs. DARTMOUTH

Kennedi Smith: 17 kills, 13 digs, .302 hitting percentage
Gabri Olhava: 12 kills, .304 hitting percentage, five blocks, three service aces
Emma Patlovich (Lake Bluff, Ill.): 24 assists
Mali Jereczek (Green Bay, Wis.): 18 assists
Courtney Bowman (Chagrin Falls, Ohio): 13 digs

THE DIFFERENCE

New Hampshire held Dartmouth to a .075 attack percentage, including .000 in the third set.

SET 1

Dartmouth won the opening point of the match, but then UNH reeled off six consecutive points to build a 6-1 advantage.
The Big Green responded with a 7-1 spurt to level the score at 8.
The trend of long runs continued with the 'Cats winning six straight points, bolstered by two kills and a block from Smith, to surge ahead 14-8.
The visitors utilized a 4-0 run to trim the deficit to 18-16 but the home team answered with four consecutive points, including two Bowman kills and a Patlovich ace, to take a 22-16 lead.
A kill by Smith and Olhava's ace closed out the set, 25-19.

SET 2

The second set was a much different story with 14 tie scores and four lead changes.
Dartmouth held leads of 10-7 and 13-9 before the 'Cats won four consecutive points to level the score at 13; Olhava recorded a kill and two blocks during that spurt.
The Big Green transformed a two-point deficit into a 20-19 lead by winning three consecutive points.
With the score deadlocked at 23, UNH captured the set on back-to-back kills by Olhava and Weston.

SET 3

Dartmouth built an early 8-4 lead before New Hampshire rallied with a 4-0 run to level the score at 8.
The Big Green regained the lead on the next point, but the Wildcats then reeled off four more consecutive points as part of an 8-1 spurt that gave UNH a 12-9 lead.
The teams exchanged points to advance the score to 15, then the 'Cats went on yet another 8-1 run to build a 23-16 lead.
Darmtouth won the next point on a combined block by Sara Lindquist and Carly Tower, but successive kills by Wotton and Smith ended the set and match.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Olhava recorded 42 kills and a .440 hitting percentage in the Holly Young Invitational. Her other numbers included five service aces and nine blocks.
Smith recorded her fourth double-double of the season – fifth of the career – with the 17 kills and 13 digs vs. Darmtouth.
Smith finished the tournament with 37 kills, 37 digs and seven blocks.
Patlovich tallied 75 assists for an average of 6.82 per set in the tourney.
UNH played just its second five-set match of the season and the 'Cats are now 1-1 in matches that end in a decisive fifth set.

For the most up-to-date information on the volleyball team, visit UNHWildcats.com. For additional information on the UNH volleyball team, like the squad on Facebook or follow the 'Cats on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @UNHVOLLEYBALL.