SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Eastern Connecticut State volleyball (3-0) earned two hard-fought five-set wins over Mount Holyoke and Saint Joseph (CT) on Saturday (Sept. 5).
The wins give Eastern a 3-0 start to a season for the second-straight year. The Warriors have now won 27-straight games against Saint Joseph.
EASTERN CONNECTICUT 3, MOUNT HOLYOKE 2
To start the day, Eastern Connecticut grinded out a five-set battle with Mount Holyoke, winning 25-18, 25-27, 25-22, 25-27, 15-12.
Emma Robinson led Eastern's offense with 16 kills, hitting an impressive .359, committing only two errors. Brooke Praskievicz collected her second-straight double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs. Sierra York added eight kills and Genna Hyde picked up seven (.313 hitting percentage) in her first action as a Warrior.
Sonya Nielsen and Lauren Lacy took turns guiding Eastern's offense as Nielsen finished with a team-high 24 assists and Lacy added 23.
Nielsen led the Warriors at the service line with a career-high seven aces as Eastern finished the afternoon with 15 as a team. The last time Eastern had at least 15 aces was on Oct. 4 of last season when they collected 18 against Fitchburg State.
On defense, Emerson Conigliaro led the way with 21 digs. After Praskievicz, Robinson added nine and Lauren Mosca had seven. The Warriors finished with nine blocks with York and Lyla Passwater each picking up four.
Eastern took the first set in the most decisive set of the day, using a 9-1 run in the middle to take control of the frame. Mount Holyoke tied the match with a back-and-forth set that saw Eastern fight off one set point at 25-24 before allowing two-straight points.
In the third set, Eastern erased a four-point deficit with a 7-1 run to take a 20-18 lead. With the score tied at 20, the Warriors scored five of the next seven points, capping the set with a kill by Hyde.
The fourth set was saw the teams trade runs with Mount Holyoke earning set point at 23-24. An error and a kill by Praskievicz gave Eastern match point but the Lyons scored the next three points to send the match to a fifth set.
In the final frame, the teams again traded runs throughout the set before a block from Praskievicz and Passwater gave Eastern a 12-10 lead. After two points from Mount Holyoke, York responded with a kill before a bad set gave the Warriors another match point. Nielsen and York teamed up for a block to end the match.
EASTERN CONNECTICUT 3, SAINT JOSEPH (CT) 2
For the second-straight match, Eastern Connecticut was pushed to the limit but found a way to come out on top, beating Saint Joseph in five sets, 25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-7.
Haley Jo Bridges and Emma Robinson tied for the team lead with 11 kills. Brooke Praskievicz just missed her third-straight double-double with nine kills and eight digs.
Lauren Lacy had a double-double with a team-high 24 assists and added 14 digs. Sonya Nielsen added 17 assists.
Emerson Conigliaro anchored Eastern's defense with 18 digs.
The Warriors took the first set after jumping ahead with a 8-1 run to go up 10-3 early and used another 5-1 run later in the set to eliminate any chance for a comeback by USJ.
In the second set, the two teams went back-and-forth and Eastern tied the set at 21 with back-to-back points. The Warriors would drop the second set after allowing four-straight points.
Set three was tied at 14 before Bridges and Maya Winn each had two kills as part of a 6-1 run to go up 20-15. Another run of 5-1 closed out the set for Eastern with Lyla Passwater adding two kills.
Eastern led 17-9 in the fourth after a 5-1 run, capped by a kill from Passwater but USJ would climb back into the set, taking a 20-19 lead after a 4-0 run. Leading 21-20, Eastern gave up five of the next six points to allow the Blue Jays to force a fifth set.
In the fifth, two kills by Bridges were part of a run that put Eastern up 11-4. After a kill from USJ made the score 12-7, a kill from Passwater started a 3-0 run to close out the match.
UP NEXT
Eastern will stay on the road for its next match when the Warriors head to Hartford for a match on Friday (Sept. 11) at 6 p.m.
