Box Score
CHICOPEE, Mass. --  Fifteen hours after a draining five-set loss at unbeaten Trinity College Friday night, the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team regained its stride after the opening minutes against Elms College Saturday afternoon to crush the Blazers in three sets at Picknelly Arena. Scores were 25-11, 25-16, 25-10.
 
After a give-and-take opening 14 points in the first set, Eastern (4-3) went on a tear, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to expand a two-point lead to 11on the way to the 14-point victory.
 
Behind the serving of sophomore Brooke Praskievicz (Moodus), the Warriors exploded early in the second and third sets. Praskievicz served eight straight points in a 12-2 run that opened the second set, then served ten straight in an opening 11-1 run in the third set.
 
Eastern improved to 2-0 all-time against Elms (0-8), also winning in straight sets in the first meeting in the series 22 years ago in Chicopee. The Blazers have lost 24 of 25 sets this year, including 20 straight.
 
In the second set Saturday, three of Praskievicz's eight early points came via aces, with four different players contributing one kill each in the opening 12-2 run; in the 11-2 scoring rush that opened the third set, Praskievicz served two consecutive aces and had a kill, with first-year outside Emma Robinson (Westlake Village, CA) putting away two balls, junior Liz Squier (Trevor, WI) and sophomore Haley Jo Bridges (Montebello, NY) adding one each.  
 
Despite extending unbeaten Trinity to five sets Friday night in a match decided by only17 total points (Eastern winning twice by two points each and losing three sets by a total of 13), the Warriors attacked at only .086 (including .020 in losing the last three sets). Saturday, the Warriors responded with their second-best percentage of the season (.283) – albeit against a decidedly inferior opponent which managed an attack percentage of only .009 of its own.
 
Against Elms, sophomore Maggie Barr (Easthampton, MA) attacked at .833, Robinson .571 with a match-high 12 kills, junior Taylor Thompson (West Point, NY) .556 and Bridges .462 with seven kills. Robinson did not commit an attack error on 21 attempts and improved her team-high percentage this year to .299, while Barr was also errorless on six attempts that improved her season mark to .400 on limited attempts.
 
Praskievicz collected seven of the team's nine service aces, with Squier setting for 18 assists and junior Samantha Blandford (Windham, NH) nine, and junior libero Sadie Blackwell (Southbury) digging up a match-high 13 balls, with Praskievicz following with 12. Praskievicz' seven aces equal the second-most in a three-set match this year in the Little East Conference.
 
Robinson currently ranks second in the Little East in kills per set (3.52) and fourth in in attack percentage and points per set (4.00) and Praskievicz is second in service aces per set (0.77) and tied for third in total aces (17).
 
Eastern visits WPI Friday before returning home for the first time since the season-opener  Aug. 30 to host Mitchell College at noon, both in non-conference competition.