SE Earns First Win, Splits on the Day

ORLANDO, Fla. – Southeastern closed out its road trip to Florida by splitting on day two of competition, picking up its first win of the year, 3-0, over Southern New Hampshire before ending the day with a 3-0 loss to Northern State.
 
The split moves the Savage Storm record to 1-3 on the year heading into the team's first home competition when it hosts the South Central Classic Sept. 11-12 in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Abby Jameson led the team in its best offensive output of the young season, posting 18 kills while hitting .351 on 37 attempts.
 
As a team SE hit .302 on the match.
 
Julia Benford chipped in eight kills, while Arianna Baker and Jessica Baker each added six.
 
Alissa Benson had her best assist output of the season with 34 assists over three sets while adding a pair of kills, four digs and four blocks.
 
Cherlene Nerio continued the trend of early-season highs with a 20 dig effort on the back row, while Jameson turned in a double-double by adding 13 digs.
 
At the net, Benford joined Benson with four blocks, while Arianna Baker added three.
 
In the opening set the Storm found itself in a hole twice, the worst of which coming late in the set when they trailed 20-14.
 
But a pair of Benford kills would bookend five SNH errors and give SE a 21-20 lead.
 
The Penmen would then recover and briefly regain a 22-21 lead, but the Storm would score five of the set's final seven points to win 26-24.
 
Set two was even as the teams traded points and then runs before SNH took a 23-22 lead.
 
Jessica Baker would then close out the set with three-straight kills to take the set 25-23 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
In the final set the teams again played evenly through the early going, eventually knotting the score at 15-15.
 
But SE would finish the match on a 10-4 run to pull away and take the clincher 25-19 and win the match 3-0.
 
In the tournament finale against Northern State the Storm had trouble getting the offense moving.
 
Jameson finished with a team-best eight kills, while Benford added seven.
 
Benson dished out 19 assists and added seven digs, which was the high dig total for SE, while Benford and Arianna Baker had a pair of blocks each.
 
NSU used a big run to open up a 10-2 lead in the first set and would pull away for a 25-10 win in the set.
 
SE continued to have trouble with Northern State runs in the second set as a 10-0 mid-set run would leave the Storm on the wrong end of a 25-11 final score in the set.
 
Southeastern found its fight in the third set and clawed to a 17-17 tie, however an 8-1 run by NSU would end the Storm rally and seal a 25-18 loss in the final set.