WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – First-year player
Brooke Praskievicz (Moodus) had six kills, five digs and three service aces and received 12 serves without an error to power the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team to a sweep of Bay Path University and a split of two non-conference matches Saturday at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. Scores were 25-20, 25-15, 25-13.
Coming off a three-set loss to Simmons University (25-27, 20-25, 18-25) in the first match of the day for its first loss after three opening wins, Eastern (4-1) trailed the entire first set against Bay Path (1-4) before closing out the match with a 6-1 burst for the five-point win. First-year player
Haley Jo Bridges (Montebello, NY) pulled Eastern even at 20 with a kill, then served the final five points, with a ball-handling error and two attack errors accounting for the first three points and kills from senior
Paige Savitsky (Centereach, NY) and Praskievicz sealing the first-set win.
In Eastern's third three-set sweep of Bay Path in the all-time series, sophomore
Taylor Thompson (West Point, NY) came off the bench for seven kills and a .312 attack percentage, three service aces and two block assists. Savitsky added five kills with a .333 attack percentage. Sophomore libero
Sadie Blackwell (Southbury) had a .938 reception percentage on 16 attempts along with a team-high eight digs, junior
Cassie Parmelee (East Berlin) adding four service aces and six digs.
After graduating 33 kills and 44 digs in the form of four players from last year's four-set home victory over Simmons (2-4), Eastern attacked at .116 and committed 13 reception errors in the loss to the Sharks Saturday.
In the two-point first-set loss, Bridges had a kill off an assist from sophomore setter
Liz Squier (Trevor, WI) to move Eastern to within a point of winning the set. Eastern committed a serving error on set point, however, and with junior Meghan Doxsee serving, Simmons broke the 25-all tie on an Eastern attack error and a clinching kill from senior Claire Conners.
On the afternoon, Praskievicz (15), Thompson (11) and junior
Bella Johnson (Marlborough) (10) combined for 36 of the team's 66 kills; Squire had 32 assists and sophomore
Samantha Blandford (Windham, NH) 24; Parmelee (5), Blackwell (4) and Praskievicz (4) combined for 13 of the team's 20 service aces, and Blackwell (19), Parmelee (15) and Praskievicz (14) combined for 48 digs.
Eastern visits Roger Williams University in a non-conference match Tuesday at 6 p.m.
