Women’s Volleyball Powers Past Mitchell College, 3-1

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior outside hitter Stacy Croteau (Agawam, Mass.) drilled a match-high 20 kills and added 25 digs to help pace the Blazers to a hard-fought 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22) victory over Mitchell College in Wednesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms halts its two-match losing skid and improves to 9-14 overall, 2-3 in league play, while Mitchell falls to 6-8 on the season, 1-5 in NECC action.

In the opening set Elms took a 20-19 lead on a kill by senior setter Jennifer Rego (Fall River, Mass.) before kills by Kendra Erskine (Bronx, N.Y.) and Nicole Terni (Ledyard, Conn.), a service ace by Alivia Royal (New London, Conn.) and a Blazers' attacking error allowed the Mariners to stake a 23-20 lead. A Croteau kill and a Mitchell attacking error pulled Elms back to within one at 23-22 and the sides then exchanged service errors to set the score at 24-23 before a Blazers' attacking error allowed Mitchell to claim the first set 25-23.

In the second set, Elms led by as many as seven at 17-10 and again at 21-14 before a Mariners rally pulled Mitchell to within four at 24-20. From there, Croteau smashed a kill to close out the set and even the contest at 1-1.

The Blazers broke a 22-22 tie in the third stanza on back-to-back kills by sophomore middle hitter Rachel Cowan (Ellington, Conn.) and Croteau and sealed the set following an Elms attacking error on the strength of a kill by freshman opposite hitter Jacqueline Brault (Chicopee, Mass.).

In the fourth frame, the Blazers mounted a 24-18 lead before Mitchell staged a furious rally highlighted by two Emily Stracuzzi (East Lyme, Conn.) kills and a service ace by Jaclyn Tempkins (Nashville, Tenn.). Elms' junior outside hitter Christina Martin (Chicopee, Mass.) blasted her ninth kill of the contest to lift the Blazers to a 25-22 set for the win and preserve the 3-1 victory in the match.

Cowan finished with seven kill and three assisted blocks, while Rego dished out 37 assists and notched 18 digs in the winning effort.

Martin added 17 digs, while freshman libero Caitlyn Larvey (Greenfield, Mass.) chipped in 11 digs.

Mitchell was led by a 17-kill, 11-dig effort from Stracuzzi, while Tempkins added nine kills.

Arianna Thomas (Fresno, Calif.) was terrific on the defense side, digging a match-high 28 balls, while Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains, N.Y.) added 11 digs in the loss.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, Oct. 22 when it hosts Daniel Webster College at 2:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.