Wildcats Fall Short in NECC Volleyball Tri-Match

Lesley sweeps, Mitchell splits and Bay Path comes up short in a NECC tri-match

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.

 Story Courtesy of Lesley Sports Information