Volleyball falls in season opener at EConn 3-0

Willimantic, CT- The MCLA Volleyball team dropped their 2016 season opener this evening on the road at Eastern Connecticut State as the Warriors pulled away in the third set for a 3-0 win.  The match was the opener for both teams as EConn is now 1-0 while the Trailblazers are 0-1.

The Warriors rallied in both the first and second set.  They took the opener 25-21 and nipped MCLA 25-23 in the second.  ECSU pulled away in the third set and coasted home 25-14 for the sweep.

Eastern was paced by Adrianna Mihalek's 11 kills and 12 digs.  She was the only player on either side to record double digit kills.  Carly Balskus chipped in with 8 kills while Leah Sopneski and Amanda Tourjee each had 14 assists.

MCLA was paced by Rebecca Godbout who had 5 kills and a team best 10 digs in defeat.  Allison Clark and Brooke Queripel added 4 kills each.  Beatrice Lechler notched 8 assists in the loss.

In the opening set, the score was tied at 16-16 before ECSU took command.  They used a 7-1 spurt to take a 23-17 lead and weren't challenged the rest of the set.  In set two, MCLA opened up an 18-14 lead before the hosts came roaring back.  Four straight points knotted the score at 18-18.  After trading points, ECSU and MCLA found themselves tied again at 23-23 before the Warriors used a Trailblazer error and Michelle Valliere notched an ace to give the Warriors a commanding 2-0 set lead.

The third set was all ECSU as they were never threatened.  MCLA was within 17-13 at one point, however the hosts closed out the Trailblazers by outscoring them 8-1 to finish off the sweep.

MCLA will look to break into the win column on Saturday when they play a pair of matches in the first round of the Morrisville State tournament.