QUINCY, Mass. The New England College volleyball team took down Eastern Nazarene, who was undefeated in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play entering Wednesday night, by a 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-11) set score.

With the win, the Pilgrims improve to 12-17 overall with a 6-2 record in the NECC while Eastern Nazarene will fall to 17-6 with 7-1 record in the NECC.

NEC LEADERS
Tihani Ehia (Kaneohe, Hawaii) lead the Pilgrims on both sides of the ball, having a team high 16 kills and a game high 23 digs. She was responsible for 17 points for the Pilgrims. Maggie Dadmun (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) tied a game high 24 assists. Kenzie Barron (Clearfield, Utah) finished the contest with 22 assists. Jada Small (Coconut Creek, Fla.) finished with 15 kills. Emma Kowalka (Kalispell, Mont.) and Meghan Six (Manchester, N.H.) had 18 and 16 digs each.

EASTERN NAZARENE LEADERS
Ruth Aguilar lead the Lions offensively with 22 kills. Courtney McCarthy had a team high 21 digs. Samantha Caldwell and Aguilar had 24 and 21 assists each. Caldwell tied the game high in assists. McCarthy placed second for the Lions in kills with 11.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions earned an early lead in set one. Neither team could break open more than a two-point lead until the Pilgrims capitalized on two errors by the Lions to force a timeout. They added on two more points will kills by Jessica Ostrov (Mililani, Hawaii) and Small to earn a four point run and lead. The Pilgrims would hold the lead from there and close out the set by a 25-21 score.

Set two saw the Lions strike first but the Pilgrims would rally and open up a 7-3 lead. A seven-point run sparked the Lions to the lead and they would not look back. The Pilgrims would end the run and tie the score but two quick three point runs gave the Lions a five-point lead. Heading down the stretch, the Lions would maintain their lead, as the closest it got was two points at 19-21. The Lions earned four of the last five points to close out the set, 20-25.

The Pilgrims earned the first point of set three but that was quickly erased as Eastern Nazarene rattled off six of the next seven points to take a 2-6 lead. The Pilgrims responded with three points of their own and closed the gap to one. The Lions would however extend their lead to 11-17 after most of the set was trading points. The Pilgrims narrowed the lead to two at 15-17 but could not get any closer than two as the set was coming to a close. The Lions took set three by a 21-25 score.

With their backs against the wall, the Pilgrims would take an early 6-3 lead. The teams traded points until the score with 10-7. The Lions recorded four of the next five points to bring the set even. Points would trade until the Pilgrims earned a three point run and led 17-14. They would maintain that lead for nearly the rest of the set until they closed it out, 25-21 and forced a fifth set.

With momentum on their side, the Pilgrims would earn the first four points of the deciding set. The Lions however, responded by taking the next five and leading 4-5. The set would come even at 6-6 but the Pilgrims would pull ahead with a three-point run. The Pilgrims opened up a four-point lead at 11-7 which was a large enough lead to trade points and close out the match by a 3-2 set score.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims will conclude their 2018 regular season with a meeting at Lesley University. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.