Women’s Volleyball Claws Past Bay Path 3-2

Box score

CHICOPEE, MA – Elms College senior middle hitter Melissa Clark (Chicopee, MA) downed a match-high 10 kills and added 19 digs to help lift the Blazers to a thrilling 3-2 (25-19, 19-25, 25-14, 19-25, 15-5) victory over Bay Path College in Wednesday evening’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women’s volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms extends its winning streak to two matches to move to 5-18 on the season, 2-2 in league play. The loss drops Bay Path to 1-14 overall, 1-4 in NECC action. The Blazers have now won four consecutive meetings with the Wildcats to even the all-time series to 4-4.

With the match set a 2-2, Elms raced out to an 11-3 lead, highlighted by three kills from freshman outside hitter Christina Martin (Chicopee, MA) and a kill each from senior setter Kim Phillips (Randolph, MA) and junior middle hitter Laura Kulig (Holyoke, MA). The sides then traded attacking errors to set the score at 12-4 before the Blazers closed the match with a 3-1 run, capped by two kills from sophomore outside hitter Stacy Croteau (Agawam, MA).

Croteau finished with nine kills in the match, while Martin and sophomore setter/outside hitter Jen Rego (Fall River, MA) added eight kills each to lead the Elms offensive attack.

In the opening set, the sides played to five ties before Elms built a 15-10 lead. A string of four straight points by Bay Path brought the Wildcats to within one at 15-14, but that was as close as they would come to taking the lead, as the Blazers scored 10 of the next 15 points to claim a 1-0 lead in the contest.

Set two saw much of the same back-and-forth action as the squads again fought through six stalemates and a 17-17 score. Eight of the next 10 points belonged to Bay Path as Nadine Harkless (Westfield, MA) and Dani Turner (Bellow Falls, VT) each delivered kills, while Meghan Golden (Wilbraham, MA) served up an ace to help the Wildcats even the match at 1-1.

The Blazers cruised to a 23-10 lead in the third frame before Bay Path regrouped for three straight points, cutting the gap to 23-13. A kill by Martin followed by a Blazers service error brought the score to 24-14 before Phillips sealed the stanza with a kill, giving Elms a 2-1 edge in the contest.

Bay Path responded in the fourth set by jumping out to an early 7-1 lead. From there, the Wildcats didn’t look back, never allowing Elms to get to within more than three to force a deciding fifth stanza.

Phillips paced the Elms offense with a match-high 23 assists and added 13 digs, while Rego chipped in 13 assists. Croteau’s six service aces and 14 digs also helped the Blazers to their second straight conference win.

The Blazers out-blocked the Wildcats 4.0-1.0 for the match as Clark contributed a solo block and a pair of assisted blocks. Rego, Croteau and sophomore opposite hitter Annette Dzidek (Chicopee, MA) each assisted on a block in the winning effort.

Five players had digs for the Blazers, led by Clark’s 19. Rego and Croteau followed with 14 each, while Phillips and Martin added 13 and 10 respectively. Harkless and Ashley Cimmino (Westfield, MA) led the Wildcats with seven kills apiece in the losing effort.

Elms closes out its regular season home slate on Saturday, Oct. 24 when it hosts Mitchell in a NECC contest. The contest is slated for a 12:00 p.m. start at Picknelly Arena.