Volleyball Falls in Five to Merrimack on Sunday

The Central Connecticut volleyball team fell to Merrimack in five sets on Sunday morning in the finale of the Friar Volleyball Classic. Anja Milosevic collected her third double-double in four matches and three Blue Devils had at least 10 kills in the contest. Milosevic and Olivia Keckler were named to the All-Tournament Team.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE
Score:  CCSU 2, MERRIMACK 3 (21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 27-25, 15-12)
Records: CCSU (1-8), MC (2-6)
Location: Alumni Hall | Providence, RI

KEY MOMENTS

• A five-point run midway through the opening frame gave Central a 13-7 lead after Anja Milosevic had consecutive aces. Merrimack would recover and get within, 15-14, but CCSU maintained its lead and winning the set following a kill by Olivia Keckler.
• Merrimack took the lead for good with an early 3-0 to make it 8-6. The Warriors would extend their lead to 19-13, forcing a CCSU timeout. Although Central came back with three unanswered points Merrimack would close the set with three straight points to tie the match.
• The Blue Devils trailed for much of the third set until A kill by Aubrey Stitcher was sandwiched between a pair of Merrimack errors to make it 17-17. The frame was tied at 22-all before a trio of attack errors in succession won the set for CCSU.
• Merrimack would not trail in the third set until a kill by Keckler and an ace by Annabelle Denommé gave Central a 23-22 lead. The Blue Devils would serve for match point before the Warriors extended play and eventually scored three straight points to win 27-25.
• In the fifth set, CCSU would score three straight points and went ahead, 7-3. The Blue Devils led, 9-6, before Merrimack scored six straight points to gain control. A kill by Keckler would get Central within, 12-11, before Merrimack closed the match out with a block.

NUMBER TO KNOW

22 – The match featured 22 tied scores, in addition to 12 lead changes.

NOTES

• Milosevic finished with 50 assists, 20 digs, five kills and four aces.
• Keckler led Central with 16 kills, and had six digs.
• Weronika Poczynek had 14 kills, six digs and two blocks.
• Stitcher had 12 kills and hit .276.
• Amanda Tokam had a team-high four blocks with eight kills.
• Molly Thomas had 16 digs.
• Central is 9-2 against Merrimack in Division I play.

NEXT UP

• CCSU hosts its home-opener on Wednesday against Sacred Heart.

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