Women’s Volleyball Sweeps by Pine Manor College, 3-0

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior outside hitter Christina Martin (Chicopee, Mass.) smashed a match-high 11 kills and sophomore libero Caitlyn Larvey (Greenfield, Mass.) dug a match-best 15 balls to help propel the Blazers to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-18) sweep of Pine Manor College in Tuesday evening's non-conference women's volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

The victory is Elms' first of the season as the Blazers improve to 1-12 overall. Pine Manor moves to 2-6 on the season.

Martin was the catalyst for Elms' offensive output, flooring 11 kills on 17 hits with just three miscues to hit at a .471 clip for the match. Freshman outside hitter Alexandra Mack (Wilbraham, Mass.) added eight kills, followed by sophomore middle hitter Christine Searles' (Tolland, Mass.) six.

Freshman setter Shannon Bolton (Shelton, Conn.) distributed 15 assists in the contest, senior setter Erika Murphy (Torrington, Conn.) added 12 helpers, and Martin and Bolton combined for 16 digs behind Larvey's 15 digs.

Blazers' junior middle hitter Rachel Cowan (Ellington, Conn.) was solid in the win notching eight kills and accounted for four of the team's 12 service aces.

Leading 2-0 in the match, Elms built a 22-17 lead in the third set before an attacking error allowed Pine Manor to pull to within four at 22-18. From there, a kill by Mack and a Gators' hitting error set the score at 24-18 before Martin rose up for her 11^th kill of the match to seal the sweep and the Blazers' first win of the 2012 season.

Pine Manor was led by Destiny Mann (Orlando, Fla.) and Michelle Cole (Quincy, Mass.) who each registered four kills.

Setter Alie Johnston (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) added seven assists, Mann dug a team-best 12 balls, and Phalogne Pierre (Boston, Mass.) added three assisted blocks in the losing effort.

Elms will host Lesley University on Saturday, September 29 in its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener at 1:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.