MANCHESTER, N.H. - The women's volleyball team defeated Merrimack College Saturday in Northeast-10 Conference action by a score of 3-1. The Penmen improve to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in the league, while the Warriors are now 5-7 and 0-1 in conference play.

The win marks the eighth straight SNHU win. Dating back to 1995, the Penmen have never won eight straight matches.

Catherine Cotton (Murphy, Texas) powered the Penmen offense while dishing out a career-best 48 assists. Classmate Emma Houlihan connected with Cotton for a team-high 15 kills. Houlihan also added three blocks on the day along with Jess Marshall (Hudson, N.H).

Erica Solomon (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) contributed 14 kills and a match-high 21 digs on both ends of the court for SNHU, and Ashlee Daoust (Brookline, N.H.) added 11 kills and matched her career-high in service aces with four.

Merrimack was led by Stephanie Sheehan who totaled a match-best 17 assists for the Warriors. Madison Burke added 19 digs while Brianna Trabucco dished out 39 assists.

The Penmen return to action Tuesday, October 2 when they host Franklin Pierce in the fieldhouse for a Northeast-10 Conference matchup at 7:30 p.m.