WALTHAM, Mass. – The Holy Family University volleyball team completed it season-opening trip up to New England with matches against Purdue Northwest and Valdosta State on Saturday.
 
The Tigers took a set from the Pride before battling in two close sets with the Blazers.
 
Purdue Northwest (12-25, 25-18, 13-25, 11-25)
 
Individual Highlights

• Skylar Osenkarski's (Harding, Pa./Holy Redeemer) match-high four block assists gave her 117 for her career, which is now 10th in program history
• Nathas Yanief's team-best eight kills on a match-high .389 hitting were one shy of leading all players, while Faith Zehnder's (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) team-best 17 digs were two shy of a match-high
• Mainerys Munoz (Stafford, Va./North Stafford) was also in double-figures with 10 digs
• Morgan Steck (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) fell one dig shy of a double-double with a team-best 21 assists

Inside the Box Score 

• Both teams had six blocks, while Purdue Northwest held a slight 61-59 advantage in digs

How it Happened
First Set

• A Shelby Kinzer (Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington) kill to make the score 2-1 gave HFU its only lead, as Purdue Northwest took the next three points to begin a 9-2 run

Second Set

• Osenkarski, Steck and Mosquera all had kills in a 6-1 stretch that that broke a 6-6 tie
• Osenkarski and Kinzer then each played a part in two points during five unanswered that made the score 18-10

Third Set

• Purdue Northwest responded by scoring the first three, and 13 of the first 14, points

Fourth Set

• The Pride would then open the fourth with five in a row

 
Valdosta State (25-22, 25-22, 25-14)
 
Individual Highlights

• Kyla Sayson (Sewell, N.J./Gloucester Institute of Technology) led all players with 12 digs, while Munoz was in double figures with 10 for the second match in a row
• Steck matched a match-high with 18 assists

How it Happened
First Set

• Holy Family scored the first three points, capped by an Isabella Mosquera (West Chicago, Ill./Saint Charles East) ace, and Sayson capped a match-opening 6-2 run with an ace of her own
• Valdosta State used a 6-1 stretch to go ahead 9-7, and the Blazers used four unanswered to establish a 14-11 advantage
• Trailing 15-12, HFU scored four unanswered of its own, highlighted by another Mosquera ace to go back ahead, and the Tigers also led 17-16 after a Blazers error
• This time Valdosta scored five in a row though, starting an 8-2 surge that set up set point
• Holy Family staved off the first three, which included back-to-back kills by Yanief and Steck, before the Blazers finally converted the fourth

 
Second Set

• Holy Family started quickly again, this time with the first four points after Mosquera and Steck combined for a block, only to have Valdosta came right back with four of its own
• Back-to-back kills by Kinzer and Yanief put the Tigers ahead 11-9, but the Blazers would take the next seven points
• HFU battled all the way back to within one, 20-21, as Osenkarski kills sandwiched one by Kinzer to cap four unanswered, but Valdosta came right back with the next three
• The Tigers were able to kill off two set points yet again, before Valdosta took the two-set lead

Third Set

• The two teams exchanged seven ties and five lead changes throughout the opening 16 points, before the Blazers used six unanswered to pull away

Up Next
Holy Family returns to the area to travel to West Chester for a 7 p.m. match on Tuesday.