Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore Alaetra Long (Lincoln, NE) had two timely kills late in the second set to spark the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team to a pair of two-point set victories on the way to a sweep of Westfield State University and to two non-conference wins Saturday at the Alumni Healthful Living Center on the Western New England University campus.
Eastern (11-4) rallied for three straight wins to down host Western New England (5-11), 22-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-15 in the first match, then squeezed past Westfield State (3-14), 26-24, 25-23, 25-19 in the second match of the day.
With the victory over Westfield, Eastern equaled its longest streak since capturing eight in a row during to its last 30-win season in 2006.
Senior Carly Balskus (Hebron) had a kill and service ace as Eastern snapped a 24-all tie in a 26-24 first-set win over Westfield, and Long contributed a pair of kills to snap a 22-all tie in the second set, with freshman Anna Barry's (Andover) kill ending the set as the Warriors went on to the sweep.
After Eastern and Western New England split the first two sets, the Warriors attacked at .385 to ease to the important third-set victory. In that third set, Long had five kills and a .571 attack percentage, sophomore Abby Stern (Manchester) two service aces, and freshman Meg Verizzi (Lebanon) nine assists and four digs.
In four sets against WNEU, Barry and Long each had 12 kills, Barry attacking at .429 and Verizzi and junior Mckenzie Maneggia (Andover) each put up 19 assists. In the sweep of the Owls, Balskus put down 17 kills and Barry 11, and the pair combined to attack at .449. Maneggia contributed 21 assists, Long three service aces and Long and freshman Madison Bell (East Lyme) 11 digs apiece.
On the afternoon, Barry (23), Balskus (21) and Long (20) topped the club in kills, Maneggia (40) and Verizzi (37) in assists, Long (5) in service aces, and Bell (22) and Long (20) in digs. In addition to her offense, Balskus collected seven blocks and Long five.
The sweep was the 13th among its 17 victories over Westfield for Eastern in the 18-match series.
Eastern visits Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference match Tuesday at 6 p.m.
