Blazers Come Up Short In Five Set Thriller At NEC

Henniker, NH – The Elms College women's volleyball team dropped a five set thriller on Saturday afternoon at New England College in NECC action. The Blazers lost on set score of (20-25, 15-25, 25-13, 25-21 and 7-15. The loss drops Elms to 13-9 overall and 3-2 in the NECC.

The two teams traded points in the early moments of the contest. With the score tied at 7-7, NEC was able to rattle off seven straight points. Elms was able to respond minutes later with a run of their own to get within two (16-14, NEC). New England College was able to close out the opening set on a 9-6 run.
 
The Blazers took a slight edge to begin the second set, but with Elms leading 6-5, the Pilgrims recorded five straight points, to go up 10-6. Moments later, NEC strung together seven straight points to go up 18-8. New England College carried the momentum throughout the rest of the set, as they won 25-15.

In the middle set, neither team could establish any momentum, as both teams traded points. With Elms College leading 9-8, the Blazers recorded six straight points. Elms continued to apply the pressure on the Pilgrims, and they outscored the Pilgrims 10-5 to take the set 25-13.

The two evenly matched teams continued to trade blows into the fourth set. New England opened up with a 10-5 lead before Elms slowly chipped away at the deficit before taking the lead at 17-16. After NEC tied the match at 17-17, the Blazers rattled off five consecutive points taking a 22-17 lead. With Elms College needing one point to clinch the set, the Pilgrims threatened and got within three points (24-21). A kill from Alanys Cruz (Humaco, P.R.) capped off the fourth set for the Blazers.

In the decisive fifth set, New England College was able to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. Elms would get within one at 4-3, but NEC started to pull away with four straight points. After the Blazers picked up their fourth point of the set, the Pilgrims started to pull away down the stretch as they won the fifth set 15-7

The Blazers were led by Dakota Stewart (Victoria, TX) who registered a double-double with 40 assists and 20 digs. Natalia Caraballo (Fajardo, P.R.) ked the team with 11 kills, Kianna Lozada (Bayamon, P.R.) led the way with 36 digs.

The Blazers are back in action on Wednesday 10/30 at 5PM when they host Dean College in NECC action.