Women's Volleyball Sweeps York For First Victory

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College women's volleyball squad collected their first win of the season, rolling to a three-set sweep over visiting York College (25-17, 25-5, 25-20) to close out the 2016 Blazer Invitational at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon.

In the first set, the Blazers jumped to an early 5-1 lead over the Cardinals behind kills from sophomore Danielle Redding (Las Vegas, N.V.) and freshman Hannah Adams (Deerfield, Mass.) and never trailed from that point. Elms pushed the lead to 10-2, but York whittled the deficit to 11-7 after a pair of aces from sophomore Argenis Contreras (Bogota, Colombia). The Blazers rebuilt a 19-12 run and sailed to the 25-17 win.

The Blazers carried their momentum into a dominant performance in the second set. After a kill from Redding, Adams delivered five straight aces from the service line to put Elms up 6-0. Redding knocked a trio of kills to help swell the Blazers advantage to 15-2. A pair of kills from Adams pushed the lead to 20-4, and then Adams and freshman Haley Asselin (South Hadley, Mass.) delivered the final strikes for the 25-5 win.

In the final frame, the squads played tight early as York grabbed an 8-7 lead on kills from junior Allison Ahmed (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and senior Shauncia McClendon (Creedmore, N.C.). Elms regained control at 11-8 as tallies from freshman Gabby Holland (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and junior Kate Moriarty (Agawam, Mass.) sandwiched a pair of aces from Redding. Leading 11-10, the Blazers rattled off six straight points to pull away 17-10. York cut the deficit to 18-14, but errors helped Elms take a 24-19 and then Adams delivered the final kill to lock up the 25-20 win.

Redding logged a match-high 11 kills with five digs and two aces. Adams, who earned all-tournament team honors, posted a solid line with 10 digs, six kills, five aces and a block. Asselin added five kills, while sophomore Caroline Locke (West Springfield, Mass.) snared a match-high 14 digs. Senior Carolyn Campbell (Millers Falls, Mass.) totaled 15 assists in the win.

The Cardinals were paced by McClendon with five kills and five digs. Freshman Chayana Jimenez (Dominican Republic) tallied three kills with eight digs, while Ahmed had 10 assists, eight digs and two kills. Contreras recorded eight digs, four aces and two kills.

The Blazers will return to the court Saturday at the Western New England University Invitational. Elms will face Emerson College at 11:00 a.m. followed by a match with host Western New England at 3:00 p.m. York travels to Yeshiva University for an 8:00 p.m. tilt Thursday night.

2016 Blazer Invitational All-Tournament Team

MVP: Emilie Reimer (SUNY-Cobleskill)

Brittany Boyce (SUNY-Cobleskill)

Mackenzie Holbert (SUNY-Cobleskill)

Marielis Muriel (Albertus Magnus)

Jesselle Guzman (Albertus Magnus)

Hannah Adams (Elms)

Shauncia McClendon (York)

ELMS VOLLEYBALL