Bay Path Falls Short in Battle of the “Cats”
HOLYOKE, Mass.-The Wildcats of Bay Path fell 3-0 to the Amcats of Anna Maria in their season opener. Anna Maria took all three sets from the Wildcats 25-14, 25-18 and 25-12 in NCAA Division III women's volleyball action.
Bay Path was led by junior outside hitter Nadine Harkless (Westfield, Mass.) who tallied a team high eight kills for a .250 attack percentage. Harkless added five service aces and four digs for 13 points on the evening. Defensively, the Wildcats were led by junior libero Davi Chuong (Easthampton, Mass.) with 12 digs. Chuong also added two aces. Freshman setter Ashley Provost (Ludlow, Mass.) had 12 assists and two digs for her collegiate debut.
Senior outside hitter Ashley Cimmino (Westfield, Mass.) chipped in five kills and seven digs for five points. Junior middle hitter Dani Turner (Bellow Falls, Vt.) finished with a .250 hitting percentage.
Anna Maria was led by freshman middle hitter Leah Murphy (Wareham, Mass.) who hit .368 for the match. She had the game high nine kills. Fellow freshman middle hitter Sandy Acosta (Lawrence, Mass.) was not far behind swinging for a .385 attack percentage. Acosta had seven kills while pitching in three digs.
Two Amcats hit over .500 including freshman defensive specialist Melissa Steadman (Mason, NH) with four kills on eight attempts and sophomore setter Alicia Bonneau (Worcester, Mass.) who tallied a .600 hitting percentage. Bonneau had a match high 18 assists, while Steadman had an amazing seven aces and added five digs.
Senior Libero Brittany Langdeau (Wolcott, Conn.) led defensively with 13 kills for Anna Maria.
Anna Maria hit .297 for the match while Bay Path only managed a .020 overall attack percentage. The victory came off of 26 kills and 41 points for the Amcats to the Wildcats 17 kills and 25 points for the meeting.
Anna Maria advances to 2-1 on the season while Bay Path falls to 0-1 overall. The Wildcats will be on the road on Friday, September 11th at Western New England College for a 7:00 p.m. start time.
