Women’s Volleyball Sweeps by Bay Path College, 3-0

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore outside hitter Alexandra Mack (Wilbraham, Mass.) notched a match-high 10 kills and junior libero Caitlyn Larvey (Greenfield, Mass.) totaled a match-best 16 digs to help pace the Blazers to a 3-0 (25-8, 25-21, 25-23) victory over Bay Path College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 6-17 overall, 2-5 in NECC action, while Bay Path moves to 3-21 overall, 0-7 in conference play.

Elms set the tone early in the first set using a service error by Bay Path to make it 8-6 in favor of the Blazers and set up an 11-0 run that featured three kills from junior middle hitter Christine Searles (Tolland, Mass.), two kills by Mack and four service aces from junior middle hitter JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) to set the score at 19-6.

A kill by the Wildcats' Kate Bartels (Dalton, Mass.) halted the rally, but Elms used a kill by sophomore middle hitter Joanna Krupa (Chicopee, Mass.) and a service ace by sophomore setter Shannon Bolton (Shelton, Conn.) to help seal the set.

In the second stanza, Bay Path pulled to within 22-20 on a Blazers' miscue, but a pair of kills by Mack and an ace from Bolton helped Elms secure a 25-21 win in the second frame and take a 2-0 lead in the contest.

The third set saw the sides battle to a 23-23 deadlock before Mack smashed her 10^th kill of the match and Elms used a Wildcats' attacking error to secure the sweep.

Searles finished with seven kills, while Krupa and senior opposite hitter Rachel Cowan (Ellington, Conn.) registered six kills each behind Mack's match-best 10. Bolton handed out 29 assists and she and Pickett served up four aces each.

Pickett and Cowan added nine and eight digs respectively in the winning effort.

Bay Path received six kills from Elizabeth Haylette (Terryville, Conn.) while Bartels chipped in four. Aaliyah Gordon (Springfield, Mass.) handed out nine assists while Kacie Bayreuther (East Lyme, Conn.) dug a team-high 15 balls.

Elms is back in action on Wednesday, October 23 when it hosts Mount Holyoke College at 6:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.