PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Eastern Connecticut volleyball's season came to a close with a 3-1 loss (25-13, 25-17, 18-25, 25-14) loss at No. 4 seed Plymouth State in the Little East Tournament on Tuesday (Nov. 10).
In the final game of her career, senior
Brooke Praskievicz led Eastern with 11 kills and added 13 digs for a double-double. Fellow seniors
Sierra York had six kills and
Haley Jo Bridges had five kills.
Emma Robinson finished second on the team with nine kills and
Sonya Nielsen guided the offense with 16 assists on the night and added nine digs.
Emerson Conigliaro picked up a team high 17 digs and at the net, Bridges finished the night with three blocks.
The Warriors finished the match with 11 service aces, as Conigliaro and Robinson each had three.
Eastern (13-9) struggled to slow down Plymouth State's (21-5) offense in the first two sets, allowing the Panthers to hit .407 in the first frame and .321 in the second frame. For the match Plymouth State outhit Eastern .208 to .044.
With Eastern leading 9-8 in the first set, the set turned as Plymouth State scored five-straight and went on a 9-2 run in total to go ahead 17-11. Leading 19-13, Plymouth State scored the last six points of the set.
It was another big run in the middle of the second set that allowed Plymouth to take control. Eastern went up 7-6 after a kill from Robinson but the Panthers then went on a 9-1 run to go ahead 15-8 and Eastern would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Warriors jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third with two aces from Conigliaro and went up 14-8 after a 5-1 run. Plymouth State pulled within three at 16-13 before Eastern scored six-straight, including two blocks from Bridges during the run. Plymouth tried to climb back into the set but Eastern would get a kill from Robinson to end a run to keep the match going.
Down 11-7 in the fourth after a kill by Robinson, Eastern allowed Plymouth to go on an 8-1 run that put any chance of a comeback out of reach for the Warriors.
