WORCESTER --- The WPI volleyball team swept city rival Worcester State in non-conference action Tuesday night inside the WPI Sports & Recreation Center, taking the match by set scores of 25-19, 25-11, 25-12.
With the victory, the Engineers improve to 7-4 on the season, while the Lancers slip to 1-10.
The Crimson and Gray and the Blue and Gold exchanged points throughout the opening set and stayed within one point until multiple WPI attack errors gave the Lancers a three-point lead at 14-11 for the largest margin of the first set. The Engineers responded with runs of three, five, and four straight points to close out the set, capped by a finish from Bridget Spees (Saint Johns, FL) to seal a 25-19 win.
WPI jumped out quickly in the second, racing to a 5-1 advantage. Kills by Fiona Gillis (Manchester, NH), Olivia Hutchinson (Erie, PA) and aces by Taylor Simpson (Ashland, MA) and Christina Femino (Falmouth, MA) helped surge WPI to a 22-8 mark in the second set. Gillis, Zeala VanDamme (San Diego, CA) and a Lauren Boycourt (San Diego, CA) ace put away the second set, 25-11.
The Crimson and Gray jumped out to a strong start, with the help of some visitor errors and kills from Anastasia Kelnik (Fair Lawn, NJ) and VanDamme to take a 12-4 lead. The Engineers spread the attack around as Hutchinson, Victoria Escuer (Caracas, Venezuela) Spees, Gillis and Kelnik all compiled kills in addition to aces from Boycourt and Spees to seal the deal in straight sets over the Lancers, 25-12.
Spees, Hutchinson and Gillis led the attack for the Engineers with seven, six and five kills respectively. Boycourt racked up four aces on the evening as VanDamme and Hutchinson added five blocks apiece. Boycourt and Preslie Jerebker (Denver, CO) combined for 23 assists. Escuer served strong defensively with 14 digs tonight.
For the Lancers, Reece Connors (Fresno, CA) paced the attack with five kills, while Beatrice Gamboa-Estrella (Simi Valley, CA) and Katie Cueva (Tewksbury, MA) added four and two, respectively. Maggie Luke (Chelmsford, MA) dished out 10 assists. Defensively, Cassandra Millea (Orange, CT) led with eight digs, while Kaitlyn Anthony (Gastonia, NC) and Katherine Crateau (North Andover, MA) chipped in seven each.
WPI returns home next Tuesday, September 23rd at 6pm to host MIT in its NEWMAC opener, while Worcester State heads to Boston to take on Rhode Island College and Suffolk in tri-match action this Saturday starting at 1pm and 3pm.
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