Women's Volleyball Comes Back To Defeat Rhode Island College, 3-2

Providence, RI --- Worcester State senior Alyssa Jasper (Rockland, MA) tallied her fifth double-double with 27 kills and a career-best 22 digs as she helped Worcester State score a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Rhode Island College in non-conference women's volleyball action at The Murray Center this evening.

Rhode Island College (2-6) took the first two sets, 32-30 and 26-24 before the Lancers dispatched the hosts in the next two, 25-14 and 25-16 and the final stanza by a score of 15-10.

Jasper's 27 kills this evening ties a school mark for the second-most in a single contest, which she set last year in a five-set setback against Lasell on October 8. 70 attack attempts also eclipsed the record she set this past Saturday in a setback against Wesleyan.

Rhode Island College jumped out to a 9-6 lead in the first set when freshman Abigayl White (Coventry, RI) set up junior Michelle Malboeuf (Cumberland, RI) for the kill. After trading points, the Blue and Gold tied the game at 12-12 and the two teams traded points for what ended up being a marathon set.

A service error for the Lancers put RIC up 31-30 and a hitting error on the ensuing RIC serve led to a 32-30 first set victory for the hosts.

The second set saw the Anchorwomen on the brink of a loss when Jasper killed a pass from senior Amanda Lewis (Poughkeepsie, NY) to put the Lancers up 23-21.

The Anchorwomen rallied back and took the lead for good when Malboeuf took a feed from White to give RIC the 25-24 lead. The next play saw Malboeuf and sophomore Dara Johnson (Boston, MA) block a Jasper attack for the 26-24 victory.

The third and fourth sets saw the Lancers break out to an early lead and hold on for the victories with scores of 25-14 and 25-16, respectively.

The fifth set saw Worcester state take the momentum to open up a 13-9 lead on an attacking miscue. A service error on the Lancers drew the score to within three, 13-10, but another kill by Jasper and a turnover on the attack by the Anchorwomen put a stamp on the visitor's comeback.

The Anchorwomen were paced by Malboeuf, who recorded double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs. Junior Lauren Palazzini (Woonsocket, RI) also had a double-digit evening with 10 kills and 16 digs. White led the team with 47 assists.

With 42 assists, Lewis hit another milestone handing out a remarkable 1,540 in her career, to build on her lead as the programs all-time leader. She added 10 digs as sophomore Jamika Townsend (Virginia Beach, VA) had a solid all-around game with 13 kills, 12 assists and 10 digs.

Sophomore Valerie Hoyle (Bridgewater, MA) and junior Meghan Deighan (Lynnfield, MA) combined for 16 kills. Junior classmates Jennifer Cabral (Swansea, MA) and Kaylee Leduc (Swansea, MA) both paced a solid Lancer defense with 24 apiece.

63 overall team kills and 58 assists are both the second-most in a single five-set contest while 97 digs is third in club history.

Worcester State heads to Boston this weekend for a triangular meeting with Lesley at 1 PM before taking on host Wentworth at 3. RIC heads to Mitchell with the first serve starting at 1 o'clock.

Portions of Release Courtesy of Rhode Island College