WORCESTER -- Junior Victoria Escuer (Caracas, Venezuela) recorded her 1,000 career dig as the WPI volleyball team split a pair of matches at home on Saturday at Harrington Auditorium. The Engineers opened the day by falling to Conn College (15-6) 3-0 but salvaged a split with a 3-0 sweep of Fitchburg State (3-16) later in the day. The result sets WPI's season mark to 6-16.
 
Match One: Conn College 3, WPI 0 (25-10, 25-22, 25-21)
Conn College swept WPI to open the day's tri-match. The Camels hit .239 in the match, holding the Engineers to a .058 attack.
 
Conn College was led by Katherine Randall (Chicago, IL), who recorded a team-high 14 kills, while Rae Wartelle (Tacoma, WA) and Mila Chan (San Francisco, CA) contributed 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Josie Kelly (Solana Beach, CA) captained the offense with a match-high 37 assists and added 13 digs. Defensively, Taylor Merrifield (Honolulu, HI) had a team-high 16 digs, while Caroline Festersen (Omaha, NE) added nine digs.
 
WPI was paced by Anastasia Kelnik (Fair Lawn, NJ), who led with five kills, and Emily Hudson (Melrose, MA) and Fiona Gillis (Manchester, NH), each adding four kills. Lily Eldridge (Danvers, MA) set up the offense with 13 assists and added seven digs, and Escuer anchored the defense with a match-high 15 digs, including reaching the 1,000 dig milestone with her first dig of the day. Taylor Simpson (Ashland, MA) tallied three aces, while Hudson notched four blocks to round out the WPI leaders.
 
In the opening set, Conn College quickly gained control with a 10-3 run. WPI couldn't get its offense in sync, as several extended surges had the Camels rolling. Leading 19-9, Conn closed the set on a 6-1 run to take a 1-0 match lead.
 
WPI fought back in the second set, closing the score to within three points multiple times. The Engineers rallied to within 20-19, but the Camels pulled away, with a key kill from Chan and a service ace by Festersen sealing the set at 25-22.
 
The third set was a closer affair, with both teams trading points early in the action. WPI held a slight lead at 15-14 before Connecticut College responded with a 6-2 run. The Engineers got to within two points down the stretch, but Katherine Randall (Chicago, IL) and Wartelle closed out the set with consecutive kills, securing the sweep at 25-21.
 
Match Two: Conn College 3, Fitchburg State (25-12, 25-11, 25-19)
Conn College finished out a perfect day with a 3-0 sweep over Fitchburg State.
 
Randall paced Conn with 11 kills, hitting .556 and adding four aces and six digs. Evie Lockwood Mullaney (Needham, MA) added seven kills and Riley Lord (Exeter, NH) had six kills and hit .400. Kelly and Sienna McCormack (Larkspur, CA) split setting duties with Kelly notched 18 assists and McCormack adding 16. Festersen racked up eight aces and led the Camels with 13 digs, while Emma Hoffmann (Salt Lake City, UT) added eight digs.
 
For Fitchburg State, Sariah Dyer (Raynham, MA) led the squad with six kills, while Mia Vestal (Wilmington, MA) notched seven assists with three aces. Hannah Azzari (Haverhill, MA) had a team-high six digs to lead the defense.
 
The Camels opened the first set with a 6-1 lead before Fitchburg State managed to close the gap to 8-5. Conn responded with a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 15-7. The Camels then allowed just five points from FSU the rest of the way, finishing out the 25-12 win.
 
The second set saw Conn again take an early lead, before Fitchburg State to rally closed the gap to 4-3. The Camels stopped the Falcons' momentum with a 5-0 run and later extended the lead to 20-9. Conn had no trouble down the stretch making it a 2-0 match with the 25-11 win.
 
The third set was tight early on as the teams traded the first 12 points to settle at 6-6. From there, Conn responded with a 6-3 surge, later extending their lead to 20-11 before fending off a late Fitchburg State run to win the set 25-19 and complete the sweep.
 
Conn continues their season on November 1 at Bowdoin at 7pm, while Fitchburg State heads home to play on Tuesday at 6pm against Albertus Magnus.
 
Match Three: WPI 3, Fitchburg State (25-12, 25-11, 25-19)
WPI secured a 3-0 sweep over Fitchburg State to wrap the day's action at Harrington Auditorium. The Engineers combined to hit a season-best .350 in the match, while holding the Falcons to a .075 clip.
 
For WPI, Eldridge notched a double-double with 11 kills and 26 assists, also adding five digs. Gillis and Kelnik each totaled nine kills, while Audrey added eight. Escuer held down the back line with 22 digs, while Harris added 14 and Hudson notched four blocks.
 
Fitchburg State was paced by Stephanie Sardella (Billerica, MA) who racked up team-highs of eight kills and 17 digs. Samantha Mirra (Burlington, MA) and Dyer added six kills each to bolster the offense. Madison Keohane (Wakefield, MA) and Vestal combined for 21 assists, while Jessica Greco (Southington, CT) rounded out the box score with nine digs.
 
In the first set, Fitchburg State had a slim 4-3 advantage before WPI took over, compiling a 7-1 run to go up, 10-5. The Falcons closed the gap to 11-7, but again the Engineers surged, has the hosts closed out the match on a 14-1 run to take set one, 25-8.
 
The Engineers continued the momentum into the second set, taking an early 6-2 lead. Fitchburg State cut the lead to three twice, at 7-4 and 14-11, but a 7-1 WPI surge made it 21-12. From there, the Engineers put it away, with a Kylie Welcher (Los Angeles, CA) kill ending set two, 25-15.
 
In the third frame, the Falcons opened with a 6-3 advantage before leading 9-6 after the first 15 points. WPI chipped away, tying it at 9-9, but FSU scored back-to-back to again lead 11-9. The lead changed hands twice more before settling on a 15-15 tie. From there, the Engineers took over, manufacturing a 7-2 run to take their largest lead of the set at 22-18. Although the Falcons scored the next two points to cut it to 22-20, WPI got an Anysha Audrey (Land O'Lakes, FL) kill and a block from Gillis and Hudson to win it 25-20 and complete the 3-0 sweep.
 
WPI gets back into NEWMAC play on Tuesday, hosting Springfield at 7pm. Fitchburg State is back in action on Tuesday at 6pm at home against Albertus Magnus, while Conn College is off until a November 1 match at Bowdoin beginning at 7pm.
 
Conn College-WPI Box Score
 
Conn College-Fitchburg State Box Score
 
WPI-Fitchburg State Box Score