Volleyball Thumps Pine Manor

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's volleyball team cruised past visiting Pine Manor College in three sets, 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-15), in a non-conference matchup at Picknelly Arena Thursday night.

The Blazers propelled past the Gators behind a two-headed attack of senior middle hitter Christine Searles (Tolland, Mass./Southwick-Tolland Regional) and junior outside hitter Alexandra Mack (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional), who each posted a game-high 10 kills in the win. Searles registered a double-double with 13 digs, while Mack added eight digs and four service aces. Freshman defensive specialist Ashlee Connors (Springfield, Mass./SABIS International) tallied five kills and three aces. Junior setter Shannon Bolton (Shelton, Conn./Shelton HS) dished out a game-high 16 assists, and senior libero Caitlin Larvey (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield HS) snared a game-high 27 digs in the win.

Pine Manor was led offensively by senior middle hitter Natasia Franklin and sophomore outside hitter Susan Le, each with a team-high six kills. Freshman setter Ashley Whiteshield had 12 assists, while Le, junior libero Carline Kirksey-Almond and freshman setter Rachael Julien all grabbed 10 digs on the night.

"We came out with really good energy in the first set," said Elms Head Coach Sheila Gisbrecht. "I thought it was a nice win for us. We were a little inconsistent at times, and we are working hard on ironing things out to be more consistent, but it's nice to come away with the 'W'. We were very aggressive and smart with our hitting, we've been working on that gray zone of hard attacks versus tips, and everything in between, so it was great to see that mix up. We had a great positive as far as our serving with a plus-3 in the serving column. We need to clean up a little bit of our serve receive, it's a little inconsistent, and we want it to be more pristine. In addition, our transition was off a little tonight, so I'd like to see our hitters transition quicker. Alex [Mack] and Christine [Searles] have been working really hard this season, and have done a lot of work when it comes to their swing and technical play to be better at the net, and it's really starting to show. Caitlin [Larvey] moved really well, controlled herself to stay in the pace of the game and not outreach, it was a nice, controlled match for her. We had a good overall team effort today, we were a little inconsistent at times, but I think we went at it pretty hard and it showed in the final outcome."

With the win, the Blazers improve to 2-11 on the season, while Pine Manor dropped to 3-9 overall. Elms will return to the court with a tri-match Saturday afternoon. The Blazers will face Rhode Island College at Noon, followed by a tilt with Caslteton State at 4:00 p.m.

ELMS VOLLEYBALL