The Suffolk University Rams women's volleyball team traveled to Emmanuel College Saturday for a two game match-up against the Cadets from Norwich University and the Emmanuel College Saints.

After dropping the first of the two matches to Norwich (3-0), the Rams were looking to end their season with a victory against cross town rival Emmanuel.

Suffolk Head Coach, Heather Cox said, "The first match against Norwich was tough and we wanted to come out strong against Emmanuel. It was the last game of the year, we wanted to really push for a win and our team was really motivated to beat Emmanuel. Going out with a victory is always better than a loss."

The first game in the match against Emmanuel had the Rams falling 25-11 and the remaining two games of the volleyball match resulted similarly: losing a close second game 25-23 and slipping in the third game 25-18.

"It was a rough way to end the season. Just short of making the playoffs. But these girls really pushed themselves and we had a pretty good season despite not getting to move on. Some girls really stepped up and were emotional leaders throughout the season, I really could not ask for a better group of players and girls to coach."

Freshmen outside hitters Jackie Dugas and Maggie Hillman stood out at Saturday's games.

Dugas picked up a total of 18 kills on the day; ten against Norwich and eight versus Emmanuel, but did more than just add points to the scoreboard according to Head Coach Cox: "She is an emotional leader, a solid rock that you can trust and rely on daily.

"Jackie is the kind of person that you leave on the court and know that she is going to be strong and lead the team in the way that you hope a player can. She really proved to be a good solid player. Really, Jackie is a top performer for this team." 

As for Hillman, a player that Cox says, "has a lot of character," she raked in eight kills of her own in the loss to the Saints. But "it's Maggie's ability to be contagious and make everyone around her feel good and ready to go," that makes her stand out the most, Cox said.

"She is such an emotional character that everyone around her just gets motivated. She is a great player that really plays all out, all the time," Cox added.

Despite the two losses on the day and ending with a 12-19 record overall, the Suffolk University women's volleyball program nearly doubled their wins from the previous season, were they recorded just seven victories.

"You know, we wanted to come in one the day and win both games, we wanted to get into the playoffs which we just missed out on, but our team really improved," Coach Cox said.

"Next year we will get there for sure. No doubt in my mind, playoffs next year."