WORCESTER --- WPI volleyball defeated Eastern Connecticut State in four sets with game scores of 25-14, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20, in a non-conference match on Friday night in Harrington Auditorium.
With the win, WPI advance to 5-4 as ECSU drops to at 4-4 on the 2024 campaign.
The Engineers and Warriors traded points out of the gate as WPI took advantage of three straight attack errors by the visitors.
Taylor Smith (Bowie, MD) and
Emma Robinson (West Lake Village, CA) recorded the first kills of the match.
Emily Hudson (Melrose, MA) and
Kylie Welcher (Los Angeles, CA) which ignited a 16-4 run by the hosts with a block to give the Crimson and Gray a commanding 20-6 lead. During that timeframe, the Engineers compiled 11 kills, a
Preslie Jerebker (Denver, CO) ace and a block by
Zeala VanDamme (San Diego, CA) and
Lily Eldridge (Danvers, MA). The visitors attempted a comeback cutting the lead to single digits after registering kills by
Bella Johnson (Marlborough, CT),
Haley Jo Bridges (Montebello, NY) an ace by
Liz Squier (Trevor, WI) and WPI attack error to bring the set to 21-12. The hosts closed out the first set with a pair of kills by Eldridge and Hudson with a block by
Anastasia Kelnik (Fair Lawn, NJ) and Hudson.
ECSU sparked its offense as they logged seven different Warriors with kills in the second set and climbed out to a quick 10-5 lead. WPI crawled back into the set with a VanDamme kill, three errant attacks by the visitors, and an Eldridge-VanDamme block to bring the Engineers within one at 11-10. Kills by Johnson and
Taylor Thompson (West Point, NY) helped the visitors out to an 18-13 lead as a
Fiona Gillis (Manchester, NH) kill,
Emilia Krum (Saratoga Springs, NY) ace and blocks by Hudson and Kelnik tied the set at 18-18. Robinson, Thompson and
Maggie Barr (Easthampton, MA) struck successfully with kills as an
Ariah Davis (Raleigh, NC) ace all clinched the 25-21 set victory.
WPI responded in the third set with a quick 6-2 start with kills from Gillis, VanDamme and an ace by
Victoria Escuer (Caracas, Venezuela). The hosts then marked another four-point run with an Eldridge kill and back-to-back markers by Hudson to extend the lead to 15-9. WPI and the visitors exchanged points until ECSU recorded kills by Robinson and Thompson that came up short as Gillis tacked on the final attack for the 25-21 set win for the Engineers.
The Warriors jumped out to a 5-1 lead due to unsuccessful attacks and kills by Smith and Thompson before the Crimson and Gray rattled off five kills and another Escuer ace to take a 9-5 lead. Kelnik, Eldridge and Gillis were the Engineers taking over offensively as they all recorded multiple kills in the fourth set and took advantage of the seven total attack errors. WPI's largest lead of the set was at 20-14 before the guests went on a 5-2 run that included kills by Johnson and Thompson. Welcher then joined the attack in the final points as Gillis once again, finished off the set 25-20 for the match victory for back-to-back wins in Harrington Auditorium.
Eldridge led the attack for the Engineers with 13 kills for a match-high in addition to 23 assists that tied the game-high with ECSU's Squier. Hudson and VanDamme each recorded six blocks on the evening as Escuer tallied a pair of aces and 21 digs to lead everyone in the win. Gillis and Kelnik joined Eldridge in double-digit kills with 11 and 10 respectively. Robinson led the visitors with 11 kills and four blocks.
Brooke Praskievicz (Moodus, CT) posted 18 digs on the night to lead the Warriors.
WPI ventures to Danbury to take on Western Connecticut tomorrow at noon as the Warriors return home to host Mitchell for a non-conference match starting at 11 am.
