September 27, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Chestnut Hill College spikers slip to 0-4
by TOM UTESCHER

Towards the end of last week, Chestnut Hill College’s volleyball Griffins found themselves lumbered with a record of 0-3 both in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and overall, but it appeared as if help might be on the way.

On the weekend a fourth CACC Rival, New York’s Dominican College, would be arriving in town, bringing along a 1-5 record that gave the local netters reason to hope they could break through for a victory. Instead, CHC would have to wait until another day for its first “W” as an NCAA Division II franchise, as the visiting Lady Chargers won the best-of-five Saturday matinee in three straight games.

Chestnut Hill got off to a solid start in the encounter. A service ace to the right rear corner by junior Marianne Finfrock, a scoring pass by Cheryl Quarles, and a tip by senior Caitlin Rickey helped the hosts gain a 7-6 edge in the opening game.

Dominican then took charge with an 8-1 run and led the rest of the way. During one stretch, CHC was back within five at 11-16 as the Chargers gave away four points on errors, but the Griffins only managed one more point in the game and fell 30-12. Outside hitter Theresa Hanneman registered seven kills for the winners, and would pose a problem at the net for Chestnut Hill in the subsequent games, as well.

At the outset of the second game, it was Dominican’s serving that troubled the hosts, who struggled on their returns and fell behind, 0-7. The Chargers gave up the side-out on a serving error and then back-to-back scoring tips by Nicole Corrado helped start CHC’s offensive engine.

Later, the New Yorkers still held a fairly comfortable advantage at 19-12, but the Griffins made a 9-2 push, knotting the score at 21-all. Lisa Doria collected points on a tip and a hit, and Finfrock and freshman Krystina Sissick each pounded out a point during CHC’s surge.

After the score seesawed to 22-22 the hosts’ offense stalled, producing only one more point in the game as the Chargers captured a 30-23 win.

Appearing determined to close out the match quickly, the visitors nailed down the first five points of game three and soon were ahead 14-2. Later, the Griffins put some points on the board, but never more than two at a time, not good enough to chase down an opponent who’s got a double-digit lead. Dominican rang down the curtain on Chestnut Hill by winning 30-11, as Hanneman finished the match with a dozen kills. CHC’s Sissick secured six in the losing cause.