Women's Volleyball Lose a Tough Battle to the Anchorwomen of RIC

CHICOPEE, Mass. - The Elms College Women's Volleyball team hosted Rhode Island College in a non-conference match Monday evening at Picknelly Arena.  

BASICS
Score: Elms College 1 (17, 15, 29, 21) | Rhode Island College 3 (25, 23, 25, 25)
Records: Blazers 1-13, 1-3 (GNAC) | Anchorwomen 9-2, 1-0 (LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The opening set would see Rhode Island earn the first point of the night, but the Elms offense would force a battle for almost the entirety of the set, causing or breaking ties on the scoreboard. It began with back-to-back kills by juniors Angelica Marks (Miami, Fla.) and Alysha Izquierdo (Holyoke, Mass.), followed by kills by Marks, sophomore Quiana Gibbs (Porterville, Cali.), and junior Alejandra Marin (Dorado, P.R.). As the Blazers earned a lead following a RIC error, the Anchorwomen would quickly respond to tie the set, then senior Francesca Dirienzo (West Springfield, Mass.) would record a block and kill to regain the lead. The two opponents would continue their battle for the lead, until Elms earned back-to-back kills by Izquierdo to force Rhode Island to call a timeout. Following the timeout, both sides would continue to fight over the lead, until RIC won four-straight plays to keep the Blazers far enough from tying the set. This would not deter Elms, as they tried to continue their quest to win the first set, which saw a service ace by junior Jaylen Holman (Las Cruces, N.M.), but the Anchorwomen would win the opening set 25-21.

The second set would begin with an early 10-6 lead for Elms, after four kills by Izquierdo and a service ace and a kill by Gibbs, once again forcing RIC to call an early timeout. Rhode Island would come out of the break scoring five-straight points, but the Blazers would go on a run of their own to regain the lead after kills by Gibbs, Izquierdo, and Marks along with a second service ace by Holman. The two sides would then battle over every point, capitalizing on each other's mistakes, which would fall in favor of Elms winning the second set 25-23.

The third set would again be an early battle for the lead, but following a kill by Izquierdo, the Achorwomen would score nine-straight points to have a 11-2 lead over the home team. The Blazers would see kills from Marin, Marks, Izquierdo, and Dirienzo, but Rhode Island came out on top by a score of 25-11.

The fourth and final set would start with Holman serving six-straight points for Elms, which included three-straight kills by Izquierdo. RIC would later come back to tie the set 7-7, but back-to-back-to-back kills by Marin and Izquierdo would see the Blazers regain the lead but the Anchorwomen would then take the lead and extend it to a score of 19-12. Elms would try to come back to even the score, after kills by Gibbs and Izquierdo and a block by Gibbs and Marks, but Rhode Island would continue to add to their lead and secured the set and match 25-18.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Holman generated 32 assists, 10 digs, and two service aces.

• Izquierdo would lead the Blazers offense with 17 kills and eight digs.

• Marin created 12 digs, six kills, and two assists.

• Dirienzo made four kills, three digs, and a block.

• Gibbs added 13 digs, five kills, a service ace, and a block assist.

• Marks would add four kills, two digs, and a block assist.

UP NEXT: The Elms Women's Volleyball team will travel to Boston, Mass. to face off against Simmons University in a conference matchup on Wednesday, October 2nd at 7 PM.

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