Women's Volleyball Downs Southern Vermont In Four Sets

BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Elms College women's volleyball team overcame a first set loss to capture a 3-1 victory over host Southern Vermont College in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) tilt at the Mountaineer Athletic Center Tuesday night.

SVC grabbed a tightly-contested opening set by a 28-26 margin before Elms came back to tie the match with a 25-20 victory in the second game. The Blazers carried their momentum for a 25-13 win in the third, and they then ended the night with a 25-14 margin in the fourth frame.

Southern Vermont (4-17, 2-2 NECC) continues a busy three-day stretch on Wednesday when the Mountaineers head to Johnson State College for a 6 p.m. non-conference first serve. Next up for EC (14-9, 4-0 NECC) is a Saturday home match against Mitchell College with that NECC tilt being slated for 12 p.m.

Mountaineer junior captain Liv Sowles (Sacramento, Calif.) led all players with 21 kills on the night while adding eight digs and a pair of block assists to her line. Freshman Nikki Ramirez (West Covina, Calif.) followed offensively with 10 kills, and she also had 11 digs on the defensive end. Sophomore Sarah Billow (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) also had 11 digs as junior libero Heidy Benitez (Tulare, Calif.) led the team with 13. Sophomore setter Abigail Landon (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) facilitated the offense with 31 assists while also notching three kills, six digs, and a pair of service aces.

Leading the Blazers in the kills column was junior Danielle Redding (Las Vegas, Nev.) who had 20 to go along with her match-high 24 digs. EC freshman Hannah Pichardo (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) registered 10 kills and six digs while sophomore Hannah Adams (Deerfield, Mass.) had 14 digs and five kills in the win. Freshman setter Dakota Stewart (Victoria, Texas) assisted on 44 of the Blazers' 57 kills, and she also had nine digs and five kills on the night.

Neither side could build a comfortable advantage in the first set until Elms went on a 7-1 run—highlighted by kills from Adams, Pichardo, Stewart, and Redding—to go up by five. Southern Vermont would respond right away by taking five of six with the help of two Sowles kills and another from Ramirez. EC rattled off four in-a-row—only to see Southern Vermont come back with eight unanswered to pull ahead; Sowles tallied four kills in that stretch as Billow tacked up two aces.

The back-and-forth continued as Elms took to a 5-1 run to go up by one and set it to game-point, but SVC stayed alive by taking the next two behind a Landon kill and a Benitez ace. After Redding and Pichardo put down back-to-back kills for the Blazers to take the edge once again, Bennington College freshman Kemly Derby (New York, N.Y.) tacked up a kill to tie it at 26-26. Landon then went behind the line and served across two-straight aces for her team to take the set.

Elms came out in the second frame with a 6-3 lead as junior Rachel Magnuson (Miller Place, N.Y.) notched a kill before landing two-straight aces of her own. Southern Vermont would inch back to tie it up, but a 9-2 EC surge put the visitors in the driver's seat; Pichardo had two kills in that time to help her team gain some breathing room. The Mountaineers would fight back once again and cut it to a three-point deficit (22-19) with the help of two Ramirez kills, but a well-used EC timeout saw the Blazers take three of the last four on the back of a pair of Redding kills to win the game.

Points were traded early in the third as Sowles recorded four kills to help give SVC a 7-6 upper hand, but Elms then stormed to a 12-1 run for the sizable separation; Redding had five kills during that rally while Pichardo chipped in with a pair. Service went back-and-forth the rest of the way as EC cruised to the 2-1 match lead.

Sowles started the fourth with three kills as Benitez added one of her own to put Southern Vermont ahead 5-3, but the Blazers picked up their pace and took to an 8-2 run to go on top by four; Redding put down another three kills in that spurt as the visitors added two more aces. EC would extend it to a six-point lead before winning seven of eight with the help of another three Redding kills. She notched one more at the end of the set before freshman Ayanna Meadows (Springfield, Mass.) landed the final strike to close out the night.

Source: (Southern Vermont Athletics)