Falcons Volleyball Win Close Game against Anna Maria
The Fitchburg State University women’s volleyball pulled out a hard-fought win against Anna Maria. This victory marks the first win for the Falcons in a tough season for the women’s volleyball team. Fitchburg defeated Anna Maria 3-1, with set scores of 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, and 31-29. Although the win might seem one-sided, it was actually much closer than it appears. The tight scores in each set, despite the 3-1 result, highlight how competitive the match was.
In the first set, the Falcons started strong winning the set 25-22, a set that the Falcons did not necessarily win as much as Anna Maria lost it, as they had many attacking errors. Fitchburg eventually won the set after a pair of points—one by senior Outside Hitter Sariah Dyer coming off a kill and an ace from sophomore Setter Mia Vestal. Dyer came up big for the Falcons as she had a team and game-high in kills with 14 to go along with 2 blocks
The second set was not as successful for the Falcons as they lost 20-25 although the set could have easily been won by Fitchburg. The third set was a good bounce-back for the Falcons, and they came to play towards the end as they won the last 4 points to secure the set. The Falcons won after a kill and Block from junior Middle Hitter Gabrielle Griffiths. Griffiths block won the set for the Falcons, she had 5 blocks in the game and led the team with 39 total blocks on the season.
In the final set of the game, the Falcons got off to a fast start winning 7 of the first 9 points. Anna Maria eventually pulled it back to 17-17 but ultimately lost the set and the game. The Falcons won after three kills from Dyer, senior Outside Hitter Samantha Mirra, and sophomore Libero Jessica Greco. Greco is not known for her hitting ability as that is only her third kill of the year. This was a huge boost for the Falcons to pull out their first win of the year.
The Falcons got outhit by Anna Maria, 48 to 35, which indicates that it was the Falcons’ defense that got them this win as they had 10 blocks to Anna Maria’s 0. The women also had 96 digs; they were all over the floor keeping balls alive and giving them a chance to win many points that might have cost them this game. Greco had a team-high 25 digs in this game giving them outstanding defense from start to finish. Setter Vestal and freshman Madison Keohane came up big for the Falcons dishing out 12 and 10 assists respectively. This was a deserved win from Fitchburg and we hope this victory builds some momentum for the Falcons.
