HENNIKER, N.H.-The New England College volleyball team fell to the Chargers of Colby-Sawyer College on Wednesday evening by a 3-1 score.
With the loss, the Pilgrims fall to 2-3 on the season, while Colby-Sawyer improves to 3-2.
NEC LEADERS
The Pilgrims received a team-best double-double of 11 kills and 19 digs from freshman
Tihani Ehia (Kaneohe, Hawaii). Kennedy Somavia (Red Bluff, Calif.) and Dreka Griffin (Calera, Ala.) added five kills each.
Freshman Maggie Dadmun (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) dished out a team-best 14 assists and also served a team-high four aces.
COLBY-SAWYER LEADERS
For the Chargers, Courtney Murray (Quincy, Mass.) and Maddie Bromley (Truckee, Calif.) tallied 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
Anna Allen (Los Angeles, Calif.) tallied 33 assists and 11 digs, while Morgan Flynn (Reading, Mass.) chipped in with 17 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Chargers earned the first point of the match but the Pilgrims responded with the next point. Colby-Sawyer earned the next six points consecutively as three of those points came on unforced Pilgrim errors. The Pilgrims would earn their first run of the match just a few plays later and close the gap to 9-8. The teams would trade points back and forth as the Chargers extended their lead to four but the Pilgrims brought it back to two. Colby-Sawyer took advantage of the opportunity by going on another seven point run.
At that point, the lead would be too large to overcome as the teams traded points back and forth until the end of the set. The Chargers took the first set by a 25-15 score.
Colby-Sawyer would use the momentum from the first set to start off the second set as they would score the first five of six points and lead 5-1. The Pilgrims would rally and find themselves within two points of the lead at 11-9. The teams would trade quick scoring bursts until the score was 17-15 in favor of the Chargers. The teams would then again trade three point sprees to get the score to 20-18 and Colby-Sawyer would continue the trend and not let the Pilgrims return the favor. They would close out the match at a 25-21 score.
Set three would start similarly to the first two, as Colby-Sawyer would jump out to an early lead. This time, the Pilgrims would not let the Chargers extend their lead in the early going. They did however earn an 8-5 lead. The teams traded points back and forth until the Chargers opened a seven-point lead at 14-7. The Pilgrims would rally and tie the set up at 18. Colby-Sawyer would rebound and find themselves with a 20-18 lead but the Pilgrims would rally and draw things even at 20. The teams would trade points and with that momentum, the Pilgrims would take the for the first time in the match. With the lead, the Pilgrims would close out the set and force a fourth set.
The Chargers would jump out to an early lead as they would start the set with three straight points. The Pilgrims would rally to earn points of their own and the teams would trade points until the Pilgrims earned a four-point swing to close the gap to one at 10-9. The Chargers would get some momentum in their favor and open up a 19-13 lead. A Pilgrim timeout looked as though it would work in their favor as they got a quick point coming out of the break but Colby-Sawyer would hold strong and close out the set with the largest lead of the set with a final score of 25-16.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims will host Elmira and Plymouth for a tri-match on Friday before hitting the road on Saturday for the first time this season.
