Panthers leave Anchorwomen sunk in 3-0 homecoming game

John LaPierre 

He/Him 

Staff Writer 

10/1/23

For the final game of Homecoming ‘23, Women’s volleyball welcomed Little Eastern Conference opponent the Rhode Island College Anchorwomen into Foley Gymnasium. After a half-hour wait for RIC to get to Plymouth due to bus troubles, it was time to play ball!

Coming into this game Plymouth State was 10-2 with a 1-0 conference record and Rhode Island College came in with a 5-5 record with a 1-1 record in the Little Eastern Conference). Plymouth State had a little chip on their shoulder as they were riding an eight-game win streak on the line. Plymouth State cruised comfortably towards a win as they swept hard-fought opponent RIC. 

From start to finish, Plymouth State was all gas and no brakes. In set one, Plymouth ended up winning twenty-five to eighteen. It was pretty even all around, no team really had a huge margin throughout the first set. Nora Ryan and Ryley McNeeley were a dominant offensive duo. Plymouth State outmatched Rhode Island College in the boxscore with a 12-7 dominance in kills, credited to Ryan and Lilli Stogner. 

The second set picked up with each team making each other work hard for their points. High-powered offenses and shutdown defense were on display from both teams. Lindsey Sanderson led the Panther’s stellar offense to victory once again in set two in the end 25-15. RIC had no answers for Plymouth’s front three whenever there was a hard, fast spike which led to a point a majority of the time with sometimes it being countered by RIC’s front three. 

Makayla Marucci had a stellar game contributing 16 digs and 3 aces for the team. She attributes the team’s success to their disciplined and steady plays. She also shared that “there are a lot of high expectations for our team’s success but I have never been so sure that we are going to meet if not exceed those expectations. We play for each other because we really are all best friends and I think that will carry us to the end.”  Once again Plymouth’s offense was continuing to shine, but Rhode Island College was knocking on the door trying to hang with them. 

The Panthers won the day 3-0, commemorating the 100th career win for Coach Joan Forge.

Coming up for the Panthers, they will travel to another LEC conference opponent in Southern Maine Huskies. That game will be played on October 4th, for a 7:00 p.m. start. After this game, Plymouth State improves to 11-2 and Rhode Island College falls to 5-6 record.