Blazers Split Home Tri-Match

CHICOPEE, MA: The Elms men's volleyball team dropped their GNAC matchup with Lasell 0-3, before bouncing back to sweep non-conference Elizabethtown College.

SCORES: Elms 0 | Lasell 3 (21-25, 24-26, 21-25)

Elizabethtown 1 | Lasell 3 (25-20, 18-25, 28-30, 11-25)

Elms 3 | Elizabethtown 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19) 

RECORDS: Elms (7-8, 3-3 GNAC) Lasell (10-5, 5-0 GNAC) Elizabethtown (10-5, 0-2 CVC)

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

Match 1: The Blazers started off hot with an 8-3 lead on the tails of an ace from Luis Martinez. The teams traded points from there with Lasell tying the game at 15-15. The Blazers saw themselves down 19-22 on a pair of errors. Despite a pair of late kills from Antonio Delgado Rolon and Moose Perry, a Laser kill sealed the set 21-25. 

The Blazers weren't phased and got out to an early 7-4 lead with a kill from Delgado Rolon. A kill from Pedro De Jesus put the Blazers up 18-14 before a kill from Carlos Mercado gave the Blazers set-point at 24-22. The Lasers fought to even the game at 24-24 before a Blazer attack error and a Lasell kill sealed the set 24-26. 

The third set began with back-and-forth action that featured 9 ties. A pair of aces from Martinez gave the Blazers a one point advantage at 13-12. The Blazers saw themselves down 17-20 and despite a late ace by Perry, fell 21-25. Elms dropped the match 0-3.

Match 2: The first set was tight between the two teams before the Bluejays saw themselves up with a 19-14 lead. Despite a late effort from the Lasers, the Bluejays took the first set 25-20. The second set began with back-and-forth action before the Lasers began to pull away at 15-13. Lasell went on to have a 10-5 run to win the set 25-18 and tie the match 1-1. The third set remained close yet again as the teams fought for control. 5 of the 6 ties in the set occured in extra points with Lasell taking the win 30-28 on a Bluejay error. Lasell came out strong in the fourth set with an early 14-7 lead. The Lasers closed out the set and match with a 11-4 run. Lasell took the set 25-11 and the match 3-1. 

Match 3:  The Blazers saw themselves up 12-10 in the first set on a pair of kills from Mercado and Perry. The set remained close before the Blazers were able to pull away on a string of Bluejay errors and a solo block from Martinez to give the Blazers a 22-18 advantage. A solo block from Perry ended the set 25-19.

The Blazers found themselves trailing the Bluejays midway through the set at 13-15 and again at 17-20. A pair of kills from Mercado and Martinez and an ace from Perry put the Blazers back in the game and tied at 21-21. The Blazers were down 2 at 21-23, before a Bluejay service error and a trio of kills from De Jesus, Delgado Rolon, and Mercado sealed the set for the Blazers 25-23. 

The third set saw the Blazers down 6-10 early in the set before a service run from Mercado- featuring a pair of aces- gave the Blazers a 13-11 lead. Their momentum didn't stop there and despite a late push by the Bluejays, Elms closed out the set and match with an ace from Delgado Rolon. Elms won the set 25-19 and the match 3-0. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Match 1: Mercado led the Blazers with 9 kills while Delgado Rolon and Martinez added 9 and 6 respectively. 

Martinez led all players with 4 aces while Mercado added 2 and Delgado Rolon and Perry each added one apiece.

Collin Liedke led the Blazers with 9 digs while Delgado Rolon and Martinez added 5 and 4 respectively. 

Match 2: Jordan Shinaut led the Lasers with 16 kills while Brendan Joyce and Jan Baranowski added 14 and 11 kills respectively. 

The Lasers had 3 players (#7, #9, and #23) who had 10 digs a piece. The Laser had 52 digs in the match.

Nick Chapman led the Bluejays with 12 kills while Blake Hildebrand added 11. 

Hildebrand led all players with 5 aces while Chapman added 3. The Bluejays had 11 aces on the match. 

Match 3: Mercado led the Blazers with 10 kills while De Jesus and Delgado Rolon added 7 apiece. 

Delgado Rolon led all players with 3 aces while Mercado and De Jesus added 2 each. 

Liedke led the Blazers with 7 digs while Martinez added 6. Every active Blazer in the match recorded at least one dig. 

UP NEXT: 

The Blazers are back at home Tuesday (3/1) for a non-conference matchup vs. Nichols at 7pm. 

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