CASTLETON, Vt. – Timing was everything for the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team, which was able to right itself from a four-match losing streak with a four-set Little East Conference victory over VTSU Castleton Monday evening at Glenbrook Gym.
Eastern (11-11, 3-3 LEC) lost its 11
th straight set in the first game against Castleton (6-12, 0-6 LEC) but rebounded for 25-16, 25-14, 25-9 wins that kept the Spartans still searching for their first LEC win after 43 consecutive losses since joining the LEC in 2018.
Now 4-6 on its opponent's home court this year and over .500 (7-6) away from Geissler Gymnasium, Eastern attacked at a season-high .252 and recorded its second-most service aces (18) of the season.
Senior
Paige Savitsky (Centereach, NY) and first-year player
Brooke Praskievicz (Moodus) combined for 21 kills and on a .286 attack percentage, with Praskievicz also leading both teams with 21 digs; sophomore
Liz Squier (Trevor, WI) had 22 assists and four aces, sophomore
Samantha Blandford (Windham, NH) six aces and junior libero
Cassie Parmelee (East Berlin) 16 digs.
Castleton attacked at only .051 and received at only .793 with 18 reception errors. Hailey Martinovich led the Spartans with 13 kills and Maddie Delsignore had 23 assists. Martinovich, Delsignore and Isabella Luna all had 12 digs.
With the win, Eastern moves into a tie for fourth place in the nine-team conference with the University of Massachusetts Boston, both at 3-3 in the conference, and a half-game ahead of defending LEC tournament champion Keene State College (3-4 LEC).
The Warriors close out the LEC regular season visiting the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (6-0 LEC) Friday and hosting UMass Boston Nov. 4. The LEC tournament gets underway with first-round games Nov. 7, with the No. 3 seed hosting No. 6 and No. 4 hosting No. 5.
