Wildcats and New Head Coach Feliciano Upend URI in Season Opener, 3-1

Saturday, August 31

West Point, N.Y.

11 AM

University of New Hampshire

1-0

Rhode Island

0-1

Rhode Island

New Hampshire

Wildcats and New Head Coach Feliciano Upend URI in Season Opener, 3-1

8/31/2019 8:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 BUY UNH Tickets

UNH Is Defeated by Army West Point in Nightcap

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The University of New Hampshire volleyball team was victorious in its first match under the leadership of new head coach Christopher Feliciano with a 3-1 win against the University of Rhode Island in Saturday's opener of the Army Invitational at Gillis Field House. In the nightcap, Army West Point recorded a 3-0 win vs. UNH.

The set scores against URI were 25-19, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23. Army won 25-11, 25-22, 25-15.

Kennedi Smith (The Woodlands, Texas) recorded a team-high 22 points in the two matches on the strength of 20 kills.

Up Next: Sept. 1 vs. Iona, 1 pm (at Army West Point)

Home Opener: Sept. 3 vs. Bryant, 7 p.m.

Holly Young Invitational: New Hampshire welcomes Brown University, College of the Holy Cross and Seattle University to Lundholm Gymnasium for the Holly Young Invitational on Sept. 5-7. The Wildcats open the tournament against Seattle on Sept. 5 (7 p.m.), then plays Holy Cross on Sept. 6 (7 p.m.) and Brown on Sept. 7 (12:30 p.m.).

BUY TICKETS: Season tickets are on sale for $25, and that is entry to all nine home matches for the price of five. Call (603) 862-4000 or CLICK HERE to purchase season tickets.

UNH VS. RHODE ISLAND RECAP
TOP 'CATS

Kennedi Smith recorded a double-double with a match-high 15 kills (on a .275 hitting percentage) and 10 digs.
Abby Sullivan (Methuen, Mass.) recorded a match-high eight blocks and tied for second in kills with six.
Emily Tanski (Plymouth, Mich.) finished with a team-high 16 digs.
Emma Patlovich (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Wren Macaulay (Lake Orion, Mich.) split the setting duties with 17 and 12 assists, respectively.
Hannah Petke (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) tallied six kills and six blocks.
Kate Bilyeu (Omaha, Neb.) recorded six kills (.263 hitting percentage) and five digs.
Hannah Crist (Cicero, Ind.) had three kills (.300 hitting percentage), four blocks, two digs and a service ace.
Erin Hedrick (Montvale, N.J.) finished with four kills, four blocks and two digs.
This match marked Wildcat debuts for Macaulay, Bilyeu, Crist and Hedrick.

SET 1

Behind Tanski's service, UNH won five consecutive points to take a 7-3 lead.
After URI closed within 7-6, the Wildcats went on a 6-1 run to build a 13-7 advantage.
With UNH ahead 19-16, back-to-back Sullivan kills and a service ace by Logan Welti (Middleton, Wis.) pushed the margin to six points.

SET 2

New Hampshire jumped out to an 8-2 lead, extended the advantage to double digits (16-6), and led by as much as 12 points (22-10).
The Rams fought off six set points before finally succumbing on a kill by Sullivan.

SET 3

With the score tied 12-12, URI reeled off seven consecutive points to take a commanding 19-12 lead not to be relinquished.

SET 4

The Rams rode that third-set momentum into a 4-0 lead.
Trailing 8-3, the Wildcats rallied to level the score at 8 and then a four-point run gave the 'Cats a 12-9 lead.
The teams exchanged points until URI won four consecutive points to regain the lead, 16-15.
Facing a 20-19 deficit, Petke evened the score with a kill and then Smith recorded consecutive kills to put New Hampshire back in front, 22-20.
The Wildcats advanced to match point at 24-21. URI inched within 24-23 before Smith ended the match with her 15^th kill.

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UNH vs. Army Recap

TOP 'CATS

Kennedi Smith tallied a team-high six points with five kills and one service ace; her six digs ranked second on the squad.
Sullivan matched Smith's team-leading five kills.
Tanski led the Wildcats with nine digs.
Patlovich had 10 assists, followed by Macaulay with five.

SET 1

Army reeled off 10 consecutive points to build a 16-3 lead.

SET 2

UNH inched ahead 4-2 early, but the home team won 6 of 7 points to surge ahead 8-5.
Army then went on a 5-1 spurt to extend the advantage to 13-6.
The 'Cats closed within 20-16 on a three-point run, but Army answered with three consecutive points to reestablish a seven-point cushion.
Trailing 24-18, UNH fended off a pair of set points on a kill by Petke and Welti's service ace but the Wildcats would not extend the set further.

SET 3

After falling behind 9-5, the Wildcats rallied to tie the score on kills by Katie Jablonski (Elburn, Ill.) and Tanski and two Army attack errors.
Army responded with a 6-1 run, however, to take a 15-10 lead that continued to expand the rest of the set.