Salem State Earns Split at Elms Tri-Meet

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Salem State went 1-1 against Lesley and Elms College on Saturday afternoon in a tri-meet hosted by the Blazers. The Vikings opened with a 25-19, 25-20 and 25-15 victory over the Lynx before losing in three sets, 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 to Elms. Salem State is now 10-5 on the season while the Blazers improve to 10-3. The Lynx slide to 1-11.    

Salem State 3 Lesley 0  

Darcy McDowell (Goshen, N.Y.) and Emily Hennessey (Hanover, Mass.) paced the Vikings in the shutout over Lesley. The duo combined for 22 kills and 17 digs. Samantha Chaisson (Duxbury, Mass.) led the way with 16 digs and Morgan Adams (Scotia, N.Y.) contributed 27 assists.

A tightly contested first set was broken open by Salem State, which went on a 6-1 run to build a 21-16 lead. Lesley hit just .148 in the opening set, allowing the Vikings to take advantage and cruise to a six-point win. McDowell and Hennessey accounted for eight kills in the 25-20 set two win. Leading 20-17, the Vikings scored five of the final eight points to earn a five-point win. In the third set, Salem State pulled away late, once again taking advantage of multiple errors by Lesley while hitting at .250 clip with just three errors committed by Salem State.

Tallin Goldberg (Merrimack, N.H.) had 19 assists for the Lynx while Cassidy Wygonik (Madison, Conn.) contributed 13 kills and 7 digs. 

Elms 3 Salem State 0

In the first set with Elms leading 17-16, Sabrina Christe (Agawam, Mass.) scored five straight points for the Blazers, who took a commanding 22-16 lead as the Vikings lost 25-18. In set two, a service ace by Danielle Redding (Las Vegas, N.V.) gave Elms an 11-4 lead. The Vikings rallied, scoring four straight points off the serve of Chaisson, but poor hitting and three aces by the Blazers in the end gave Elms a seven-point win. The Vikings played a close third set as an ace by Sara Corey (Whatley, Mass.) tied the set at 17-all. However, multiple attack errors helped Elms to a 22-19 lead before kills by Rachel Magnuson (Miller Place, N.Y.) and Redding, and a ball handling error by Salem State handed the Blazers a 25-21 victory.  

Hennessey had seven kills and 11 digs and McDowell six kills and five digs, Chaisson had a season-high 26 digs while Adams finished with 23 assists.  

Redding finished with 13 kills and 10 digs for Elms. Dakota Stewart (Victoria, Texas) had a match-best 30 assists with 10 digs and Kianna Lozada (Bayamon, P.R.) chipped in with 10 digs.