Story courtesy of Josh Streit
CAMBRIDGE, MA – Lesley University hosted the Wildcats of Bay Path College and the Mariners of Mitchell College in a New England Collegiate Conference tri-match. Lesley University got its first conference wins of the year as they won the first match against Mitchell College 3-0 and defeated Bay Path College in the final match of the day 3-0. Mitchell would split on the day as they defeated Bay Path College 3-0 in the second match of the game. Following the tri-match Lesley University improves to 7-11 overall and 2-1 in the NECC, Mitchell College improves to 5-6 overall and 2-2 in the NECC and Bay Path College falls to 1-16 overall and 1-3 in the NECC.
Match 1 – Lesley vs. Mitchell
In the first match of the afternoon Lesley University defeated
Mitchell College three games to none, winning the three games
25-16, 25-13 and 25-20. Lesley started strong and continued to
dominate the match on both offensively and defensively.
Offensively, the Lynx were led by Megan Chadwick (Chelmsford,
Mass.), Amanda McCracken (Eldersburg, Md.), and Kaitlyn Wechsler
(Merrick, N.Y.) who had nine, eight, and seven kills respectively.
Wechsler added a match high four aces to help pace the Lynx.
Kaitlyn Miller (Leesport, Pa.) led both teams with 22 assists as
she was a consistent force for the Lynx throughout the entire
match. Mitchell College was led on offense by Stephanie Davis
(Ledyard, Conn.) who had a team high four kills. Jennifer Bordonaro
(Winsted, Conn.) led the Mariners with nine assists.
The Lynx played very strong defensively which allowed them to
control the tempo of the match as well as the lead. Lindsey Mareck
(Killingworth, Conn.), Megan Ortwein (Shanghai, China), and Kayla
Henry (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) all recorded double digits in digs
with 13, 16, and 13 respectively.
Match 2 – Mitchell vs. Bay Path
The Mitchell College Mariners rebounded after their opening loss
to beat the Bay Path College Wildcats three games to none, winning
the three games 25-16, 25-20, 25-20. The Mariners won the first
game with little trouble but after the first game Bay Path showed
its true colors and played the Mariners very tough over games two
and three.
Mitchell was led by Akesia Bernard (Hartford, Conn.), Stephanie
Davis (Ledyard, Conn.) and Heather-Renae Powers (Niantic, Conn.)
who contributed five, four and four kills respectively. The
Mariners were relentless as they had 86 team attacks which
continually put the pressure on the Wildcats throughout the course
of the match.
Bay Path was led by Nadine Harkless (Westfield, Mass.) who
contributed six kills and 20 total attacks. The team had 79 total
team attacks, and were able to dig 77 of Mitchell’s
attacks.
Match 3 – Lesley vs. Bay Path
In the final match of the day Lesley University defeated Bay
Path College three games to none, winning the three games 25-11,
25-23 and 25-20. Lesley cruised to an easy 1-0 advantage after
dominating the Wildcats in the first game. However, the Wildcats
showed great resilience as they put up a strong effort in the
second game. The Wildcats led late in the game, 20-16 and looked
poised to even the match up at one game a piece. However, the Lynx
ended the second game with in a fury and outscored the Wildcats 9-3
over the last twelve points.
It was the hitters during this match that made the real difference
for the Lynx. Marek led the charge for the Lynx as she hit a
tri-match high 52% converting 10 kills on 17 attempts. The Lynx
needed her in a big way down the stretch in the second game and she
delivered. McCracken led the team with 11 kills and Ortwein had a
match high 30 assists.
On offense Bay Path was led by Ashley Cimmino (Westfield, Mass.)
and Harkless who contributed five and four kills respectively. Bay
Path was able to hang tough with Lesley mainly because of their
defense which amassed 99 kills over the three games, led by
Harkless who had 31 and Davi Chuong (Easthampton, Mass.) who had 26
digs.