MCLA Gets By Women’s Volleyball, 3-1
CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior middle hitter
Melissa
Clark (Chicopee, Mass.) tied for a game-best 11 kills,
but Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) received 11-kill
efforts from Amanda Borsotti (Lee, Mass.) and
Kayla Bromback (Lee, Mass.) to help guide the
Trailblazers to a 3-1 (25-16, 15-25, 25-19, 25-17) victory over the
Blazers in Thursday evening's non-conference women's volleyball
match at Picknelly Arena.
With the loss, Elms moves to 5-14 overall, while MCLA improves to 10-8 on the season.
Trailing 1-0 in the contest, Elms stormed out of the gate in the second set building a 10-2 lead on the strength of two kills from sophomore outside hitter Christina Martin (Chicopee, Mass.), a pair of service aces from freshman setter Ashley Fuller (Amherst, Mass.), a kill from Clark, an ace from junior outside hitter Stacy Croteau (Agawam, Mass.) and four MCLA miscues. The Trailblazers answered scoring five of the next six points to pull to within four at 11-7 but a 9-1 run by Elms highlighted by two aces from Martin and a kill each from junior outside hitter Jenn Rego (Fall River, Mass.) and Croteau gave the Blazers a commanding 20-8 lead in the frame. From there, Elms maintained at least a nine-point cushion to seal the victory and even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, MCLA never trailed but never established more than a seven-point lead as Elms was able to narrow the gap to three points on a pair of occasions late in the stanza.
Leading 17-14 in the fourth frame, MCLA scored four consecutive points thanks to a kill each from Bromback and Jillian Gariepy (Tewksbury, Mass.) and a pair of Elms attacking errors to stake a 21-14 lead. With the score set at 22-16, Clark delivered a solo block and following a Blazers' service error, senior middle hitter Laura Kulig (Holyoke, Mass.) kept Elms alive with a kill, but Borsotti and Christina Kidd (Glens Falls, N.Y.) each smashed kills to seal the set and the match for the Trailblazers.
Kelley Bryant (West Springfield, Mass.) downed 10 kills to give MCLA three players with double-digit kills, while libero Amanda Lane (Swansea, Mass.) led all players with 24 digs. Setter Kristen Robillard (Swansea, Mass.) and Kidd added 15 and 14 digs respectively, while Robillard handed out a match-high 33 assists.
Croteau tallied seven kills and 10 digs in the losing effort, Clark notched 14 digs in addition to her 11 kills and Fuller dished out 26 helpers and collected 10 digs.
Martin and Gariepy each provided four service aces for their teams as the MCLA edged Elms in the service game 10-9.
Elms returns to conference action on Saturday, Oct. 16 when it travels to Cambridge, Mass. to compete in a tri-match with Daniel Webster College and Newbury College. First-serve against the Eagles is set for 12:30 p.m. with game time against the Nighthawks slated for 2:00 p.m.
