Women's Volleyball Advances To NECC Semis After 3-0 Win Over Dean

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The No. 2 seed Elms College women's volleyball team cruised into the New England Collegiate Conference semifinal with a 3-0 sweep of seventh-seeded Dean in the NECC quarterfinal in Picknelly Arena on Tuesday night. The Blazers won 25-8, 25-15, 25-19 to improve to 19-4 overall while Dean ends its season at 12-15 overall.

Blazer senior Danielle Redding (Las Vegas, Nev.) was on fire all night. She finished with 22 kills and just six errors on 38 swings to hit .421. She also added 10 digs to complete the double-double.

Sophomore setter Dakota Stewart (Victoria, Texas) dished out 30 assists and added 13 digs for the Blazers, leading Elms to a .238 hitting percentage as a team. Caroline Locke (West Springfield, Mass.) collected a match-high 14 digs.

Kait Anderson (Clinton, Conn.) had six kills and eight digs for the Bulldogs and Melanie Rios-Nevarez (Vega Alta, P.R.) added three kills and four digs. The Bulldogs hit .012 in the match.

Elms held a 53-37 lead in digs on Tuesday and delivered 11 aces while giving up just two. Dean earned the first point of the night on an error by Rachel Magnuson (Miller Place, N.Y.) but after Elms responded with the next five points, the Blazers never trailed the rest of the night.

Elms will face No. 3 Southern Vermont on Nov. 2. The Blazers picked up a 3-1 win over the Mountaineers in the regular-season on Oct. 17 in Chicopee, Mass.