Women’s Volleyball Falls to Albertus Magnus, SUNY Cobleskill in Day Action of 2012 Blazer Challenge

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's volleyball team suffered a pair of losses in opening day action of the 2012 Blazer Challenge on Friday afternoon at Picknelly Arena.

Elms (0-2), lost its first match to Albertus Magnus College (1-1), 3-2 (25-19, 25-27, 26-28, 25-21, 16-14) before falling to SUNY Cobleskill (1-1), 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-18).

The Sage Colleges won both of its matches, topping SUNY Cobleskill 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-23) before sweeping Albertus Magnus, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-18) to start its season 2-0.

In Elms' opener, a five-set thriller that saw the Blazers take a 2-1 lead in the contest before the Falcons won the final two frames, Elms was led by freshman outside hitter Alexandra Mack (Wilbraham, Mass.) who smashed a match-best 17 kills, and senior setter Erika Murphy (Torrington, Conn.) who dished out a match-high 44 assists.

Sophomore middle hitters JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) and Christine Searles (Tolland, Mass.) added 12 and 10 kills each, while sophomore libero Caitlyn Larvey (Greenfield, Mass.) led the defensive effort, highlighting four Blazers in double-digit digs with a team-best 33.

Senior outside hitter Christina Martin (Chicopee, Mass.) added 18 digs, while Mack and Murphy tallied 12 digs apiece.

Albertus was led by Melissa Manning (Milford, Conn.) who floored 13 kills and notched 13 digs, while Krista LaBissoniere (Meriden, Conn.) totaled a staggering 39 digs to lead all diggers in the contest, while Leanna Velez (Waterbury, Conn.) dug 22 balls.

In Elms' second match, junior outside hitter Rachel Cowan (Ellington, Conn.) led the Blazers with five kills, while Larvey amassed a match-high 15 digs in the losing effort. Murphy added 12 assists and nine digs, while Martin served up a trio of aces.

The Fighting Tigers received a match-high 11 kills from Hannah Barr (Buanesburg, N.Y.), while Kim Cordova (Oneonta, N.Y.) paced defensive action with 14 digs to lead SUNY Cobleskill.

Setter Taylor VanWinkler (Richfield Springs, N.Y.) added 10 assists in the match, while Casey Holbert (Sauquoit, N.Y.) chipped in eight helpers.

In Sage's two wins, setter Joanie Cooney (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) paced the Gators with 27 and 22 assists against Albertus Magnus and SUNY Cobleskill, respectively, while Morgan Robinson (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) and Kelsey Ray (Horseheads, N.Y.) added 11 and seven kills apiece to help lead the offensive charges.

Blazer Challenge action concludes on Saturday, Sept. 1 with SUNY Cobleskill squaring off against Albertus Magnus at 10:00 a.m., followed by Elms and Sage at 12:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.