MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Southern New Hampshire volleyball team rallied back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Saint Anselm College by a score of 3-2 Tuesday evening in non-conference action. With the win, the Penmen improve to 3-1, while the Hawks are now 2-1. 

SNHU led by as many as seven points in the first set to defeat the Hawks by a score of 25-20. Four kills from Victoria Wehrmann (Dallas, Texas), and two key service aces late in the set from Maeghan Higgins (Hesperia, Calif.) proved to be the difference for the Penmen. 

Despite 13 second-set assists from Catherine Cotton (Murphy, Texas), the Hawks were able to pull away with a win. The two teams were neck-and-neck until the end. The Hawks took a two-point lead, the largest since the first two points of the game, and went up 15-13. However, the Penmen answered with back-to-back points to tie the game at 15. The teams traded the next four points, until Peyton Williams (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Emma Houlihan (Shoreham, N.Y.) each connected for a kill to give SNHU a 21-19 advantage. The two-point lead did not last long as Saint Anselm answered with a pair of kills along with a pair of Penmen hitting errors to go up 23-22. The Hawks continued their surge, and came out with a 25-22 win to tie the match at 1-1. 

Southern New Hampshire seemed to have locked up the third set after leading Saint Anselm by as many as five late in the set. Jumping out to an early 1-0 lead, the Penmen and the Hawks traded points until SNHU scored six unanswered to go up 13-9. SNHU built on its lead scoring four more points to Saint Anselm's three making the score 17-12. However, the Hawks tallied five kills and capitalized on Penmen errors to slowly cut the deficit and tie the game at 20-20. Southern New Hampshire went up by two points once again, but the Hawks quickly answered and won the set by a score of 26-24 to take a 2-1 lead.

Down 2-1, the Penmen entered the fourth set on a mission as Nina McGouldrick (Richardson, Texas) served an ace to take a quick 1-0 lead. SNHU did not look back once, leading the Hawks for the entire set. Another 13 assist-set for Cotton, along with four kills from Kendra Mikuta (Orland Park, Ill.) and Wehrmann contributed to the 25-20 win and forced a fifth set with the teams tied up at 2-2. 

The Penmen dominated the entire fifth set pushing out a 15-7 win. Houlihan added three key kills in the final frame while Mikuta and Cotton dished out three assists apiece. 

Four different Penmen totaled double-digit kills. Houlihan, Mikuta, and Wehrmann each added 15, 10, and 13 kills, respectively, while McGouldrick totaled 10 kills and 12 digs for SNHU. Cotton posted a game-best 46 assists to the Penmen offense, while Higgins contributed 16 digs defensively.

SNHU returns to action next week, Tuesday, September 17 when it hosts Assumption College for a non-conference home opener at 7:00 pm.