Nighthawks Split Tri-Match With Eagles and Blazers

The Newbury College women's volleyball team split Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) tri-match falling to Daniel Webster College, 3-0  before defeating Elms College, 3-1.

Daniel Webster 3, Newbury 0

Eagles sophomore Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) tallied a game-high 10 kills against the Nighthawks in the first match of the afternoon to lead Daniel Webster to the 3-0 victory. Daniel Webster jumped out in front early, winning the first game 25-19. The Eagles began to heat up as they  held the Nighthawks to just eight points in set two winning 25-8.

The majority of the third set was a barnburner before Daniel Webster turned it on late to claim the 25-21 victory. Junior Tricia Corriveau (Coventry, R.I./Coventry) tallied four kills in the match while freshman Jessy Touron (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) registered two service aces.

Daniel Webster 3, Elms 0

Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) had another solid performance in the second match of the afternoon.  Registering four service aces and nine kills, she led Daniel Webster to their second win on the day, blanking Elms, 3-0.

The Eagles came out firing claiming victories in the first two games, 25-16 and 25-18 but the Blazers were resilient. The two conference opponents battled each other back-and-forth throughout the third set until Daniel Webster pulled away for the 25-20 victory. Junior Stacy Croteau (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) recorded a team-high seven kills while freshman Ashley Fuller (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional).

With the victory, Daniel Webster improves to 12-5 on the season and remain undefeated in the NECC .

Newbury 3, Elms 1

Newbury jumped out in front in the day's final match, quickly taking the two game advantage but Elms held strong. The Blazers responded with a comeback win, 25-21, in the third set, sparked by Croteau's three service aces and two kills.

Momentum appeared to have shifted after the game three win as Elms held a 23-19 lead late in game four.  But the Nighthawks would not be denied.  Sophomore Regina Sibilia (Agawam, MA/Agawam) initiated a 4-0 run to knot up the contest at 23. Fellow sophomore Stephanie Williams (Medford, MA/Medford) tallied her fourth kill of the game to give the Nighthawks the one point advantage, 24-23.

The Blazers came back to tie the score again but lightning would strike twice as Williams registered her fifth kill – a fourth set high – to re-gain the lead for Newbury. Croteau tied the score again with second kill but it was not enough. Freshman Jessy Touron (Brockton, Mass./Brockton)  registered her third kill of the game to put the Nighthawks up one before an attack error by Elms, sealed the 27-25 victory for Newbury. 

With the win the Nighthawks improve to 6-11 on the season and 1-2 in the NECC while Elms falls to 5-16 and 1-2 in the conference. Newbury returns to the court on Monday October 18^th when they travel to Connecticut for a non-conference match with St. Joseph's (CT) at 7:00 PM.