Women’s Volleyball Outlasted by Bay Path College, 3-1

HOLYOKE, Mass. – Elms College senior outside hitter Christina Martin (Chicopee, Mass.) totaled 11 kills and added a team-best 21 digs, but Bay Path College used a 15-kill effort from Elizabeth Haylette (Terryville, Conn.) and 31 digs from Kacie Bayreuther (East Lyme, Conn.) to help pace the Wildcats to a 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-21, 25-16) victory over the Blazers in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's volleyball match at the Bartley Center at Holyoke Community College.

With the loss, Elms falls to 3-16 on the season, 1-4 in NECC play, while Bay Path improves to 8-10 overall, 2-4 in NECC action.

After falling behind, 1-0 in the opening set, Elms rallied to win the second set, sealing the frame on a kill by sophomore middle hitter JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) to even the contest at 1-1.

In the third set, the sides played to a 21-21 deadlock before Haylette registered a pair of kills and Stephanie Synott (Torrington, Conn.) terminated a ball of her own to highlight a 4-0 run by the Wildcats to close out a 25-21 victory in the stanza and give Bay Path a 2-1 edge in the contest.

After battling to a 10-10 score in the fourth set, the Wildcats pulled away using a 12-2 run to stake a commanding 22-12 advantage before Elms used a Bay Path mishit and a kill by sophomore middle hitter Christine Searles (Tolland, Mass.) to stop the run.

A pair of Wildcats' errors allowed Elms to pull to within seven at 23-16 but a pair of kills by Haylette completed the victory for Bay Path.

Pickett finished with a team-high 12 kills, Martin floored 11 kills and Searles added eight kills as the primary beneficiaries of a 32-assist effort from senior setter Erika Murphy (Torrington, Conn.).

Martin also led four Blazers with double-digit digs, including sophomore libero Caitlyn Larvey (Greenfield, Mass.) (19), freshman outside hitter Shannon Bolton (Shelton, Conn.) (15) and Pickett (12).

Pickett served up six aces in the loss, while Bolton added six kills.

Bay Path was led by Haylette's 15 kills, followed by Arriadne Sykes (Hartford, Conn.) who finished with 13 kills.

Ashley Provost (Ludlow, Mass.) paced the Wildcas' attack with 34 assists, while Bayreuther anchored the defense with a match-high 31 digs, followed by Mikala Smith's (Esperance, N.Y.) 14 digs and Katelynn Hannan's (Troy, N.Y.) 10 digs.

Elms returns to NECC play on Saturday, Oct. 20 when it hosts Regis College at 12:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.