WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's volleyball team dropped both matches of its tri-match at Eastern Connecticut on Saturday. Match one of the day was a 3-1 loss to Little East opponent Eastern Connecticut, and match two was a 3-2 loss to Western New England.
Hailey Martinovich contributed 18 kills on the day with a service ace and a block.
Victoria Garcia,
Vanessa LeBrun, and
Alondra Rojas all chipped in three service aces each, with Rojas dishing out 60 assists on the day.
Eastern Connecticut 3, VTSU Castleton 1
Victoria Garcia led the Spartan defense with a team-high 23 digs in game one of the day, chipping in three aces.
Alondra Rojas dishes out 23 assists and contributed two blocks.
Madison Sheehan led the Spartan offense with eight kills in the first match.
The Spartans held the lead for the whole first set with one tie at 11-11. The Spartans pulled out to a 19-12 lead, with a service ace from Garcia. The Warriors went on a run at 24-16 to get within three, before
Jocelyn Ray put down a kill to win the first set, 25-21.
The Warriors controlled set two, leading 17-10 before Rojas and Ray put down kills to pull within five. The Spartans got within eight before the Warriors put down two kills to win set two, 25-15. In set three, the Spartans took advantage of attack errors by the Warriors to go up 6-3. The Warriors responded, taking a 16-12 lead from five straight points. The rest of set three was back-and-forth with both teams scoring multiple points in a row before the Warriors put down a kill to take set three, 25-22.
Set four opened with a six-point scoring run by the Warriors to go up 7-1 before
Kaitlyn Chapman answered with a kill. The Spartans fought back with a service ace from
Hailey Martinovich bringing the Spartans within five. The Warriors ended set four with three straight kills to take the final set 25-23.
Western New England 3, VTSU Castleton 2
Delia Roulston led the Spartan defense with a team-high 25 digs, also her new career high. Martinovich led the Spartan offense with 11 kills, with
Jocelyn Ray chipping in nine. Rojas dished out 37 assists in match two of the day, marking her new career high.
The Spartans led the entire first set, with the Golden Bears only getting within one point at the end of the set. LeBrun ended the first set with a service ace to give the Spartans set one 25-22. The second set went back-and-forth with both teams leading at various points throughout the set. Sheehan put down a kill to get the Spartans within one, but the Golden Bears scored five unanswered points to take set two, 25-19.
The third set was much of the same, with the two teams trading points. The Spartans pulled away 17-12 before the Golden Bears found an answer from Alissa Hawes. Rojas served up two aces to win the second set for the Spartans 25-19. The Golden Bears took control of set four from the start, going up 13-2 before Ray and Martinovich put down kills to get momentum going for the Spartans. The Golden Bears did not let up, winning set four 25-13 to force the deciding fifth set.
The Golden Bears reached eight points first to force the side change in the fifth set, with the Spartans down three. After the side change the Spartans scored four unanswered points to go up one.
Kaitlyn Chapman tied the final set at 12 before the Golden Bears took advantage of Spartan errors to take the set 15-12.
The Spartans are on the road on Wednesday, October 16 at Skidmore for a 6 p.m. start.
