NEWPORT, R.I. - Seniors Amari King (Lawrence, Mass.) and Emily Carens (Northborough, Mass.) both finished with a dozen kills on Saturday morning as the Worcester State University volleyball team came from a set down to defeat Salve Regina 3-1 at the Rodgers Recreation Center. Set scores were 17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-17.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 9-6 overall on the season. The Seahawks fall to 10-7 with the loss.

Salve Regina jumped out to an early 1-0 edge in the match after an offensive explosion in the opening set. The Seahawks recorded 14 kills with just two errors in the set for an attack percentage of .387, allowing them to cruise to the advantage.

The Seahawk offense did a 180 in set number two, as it was the Lancers that took control to even the match. Salve Regina recorded just seven kills with nine errors in the set, and the Lancers took advantage. The offense continued to struggle for the Seahawks for the entirety of the match, recording 26 attack errors in the final three sets. Despite hitting .387 in the opening set, the Seahawks finished the match with a combined attack percentage of just .079, while the Lancers hit at a clip of .217.

The 12 kills from King and Carens were the match high, followed by Salve Regina's Nicole Karabaich (Greenlawn, N.Y.), who recorded 10. For the Lancers, junior Stephanie Chapin (Hampden, Mass.) finished the day with nine kills on just 16 attacks for a hitting percentage of .500. 

Senior Allie Nolan (Melrose, Mass.) dished out 40 assists in the win, while Megan Leavens (Storrs, Conn.) tallied 15 digs to lead the Lancers.

For Salve Regina, setter Erin Proctor (Canton, Mass.) finished with a double-double with 24 assists and 18 digs. Megan Parham (Tulsa, Okla.) led all players with 20 digs in the match.

Next up for Worcester State, the Lancers will travel to Becker for a 7 p.m. match against the Hawks on Thursday. Salve Regina will look to snap its three-match losing skid on Wednesday when the Seahawks take on Western New England.

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