Volleyball drops five-setter to New England College
New England College came back from two sets down to defeat MCLA tonight in nonconference action
Henniker, NH- The MCLA Volleyball team fell to New England College tonight 25-17, 25-22, 12-25, 18-25, 11-15. With the win NEC improves to 3-8 while MCLA falls to 6-3.
After taking the first two sets MCLA struggled to get a foothold in the 3rd as the Pilgrims jumped out to a 14-4 lead and were never challenged taking the set 25-12.
The 4th set would see NEC sprint out again to an early 9-2 advantage. The Trailblazers would get no closer than six at 23-17 before the Pilgrims closed out the set taking it 25-18.
The decisive 5th set was more closely contested as MCLA took a 7-4 lead on sophomore Chloie Garber's (Eagle River, WA) kill. NEC however would answer with a 7-1 run making it 11-8. A kill by first year Shannon O'Brien (Unionville, CT) and a service ace by classmate Anais Badio (Las Vegas, NV) would knot things up a 11-all. Unfortunately for the Trailblazers those points would be their last of the evening as the Pilgrims would score the final four taking the set 15-11 to complete the comeback.
NEC junior setter Arianna Blaize-Llamas (Honolulu, HI) had 41 assists, 10 digs and 5 kills while classmate Amber Thi (Kalihi, HI) finished with 13 kills, 17 digs and 4 aces. Senior Samantha Vargas (Riverside, CA) chipped in 11 kills and 13 digs.
For the Trailblazers Chloie Garber had a match-high 16 kills to go along with 5 aces. Shannon O'Brien had 35 assists and a match-high 18 digs. First year Elizabeth Brown (Lee, MA) would add 9 kills and 15 digs.
New England College will next host Colby-Sawyer this Thursday at 7pm.
MCLA will travel to Buzzard's Bay for their next match to take on MASCAC foe Mass Maritime at 1pm.