Volleyball Outlasts Elms, 3-0

Chicopee, Mass. - Framingham State University's Ashley Trudeau (Rockland, Mass.) smashed a match-high 17 kills to help lift the Rams to a hard-fought 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-17) win over the Elms College Blazers in Tuesday evening's non-conference women's volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

With the loss, Elms falls to 2-10 on the season, while Framingham State improves to 10-6 overall.

Trailing 2-0 in the match, Elms' freshman setter Ashley Fuller (Amherst, Mass.) downed one of her two service aces to set the score at 15-15 in the third set. A kill by Andressa Fernandes (Framingham, Mass.) and three Blazers attacking errors gave Framingham State a 19-15 lead before a kill by sophomore outside hitter Christina Martin (Chicopee, Mass.) pulled Elms back to within three at 19-16. The Rams then used a kill each from Trudeau and Nicole Donofrio (Whitman, Mass.), and a service ace from Allison Appleman (Hyannis, Mass.) to stake a 23-16 advantage before a Framingham State miscue cut the Blazers' deficit to six at 23-17. From there an Elms service error followed by a service ace by the Rams' Maribeth Martin (Marston Mills, Mass.) sealed the set and match for Framingham State.

Trudeau finished with 17 kills on 38 swings with just three errors to hit at an impressive .368 clip for the contest and added 11 digs, while Martin directed the offense with 27 assists. Libero Jessi Goode (Maston Mills, Mass.) notched a team-best 12 digs and Appleman served up four aces to highlight the winning effort for the Rams.

In the opening set, Framingham State built a 20-12 lead before Elms exploded for an 8-2 run on the strength of three kills from senior middle hitter Melissa Clark (Chicopee, Mass.), two kills from Martin, a service ace from Fuller and two Rams' errors to cut the gap to two at 22-20. Framingham State upped its lead to 24-20 before Croteau downed a kill to pull the Blazers to within three, but an Elms service error sealed the first frame win for the Rams.

In the second stanza, the sides played to a 19-19 deadlock before Trudeau downed three kills and added an assisted block to spark a 6-0 run by Framingham State to post a 2-0 lead in the match.

Martin finished with seven kills and seven digs in the losing effort, while Fuller dished out 22 assists and added seven digs. Croteau finished with six kills while senior middle hitter Laura Kulig (Holyoke, Mass.) downed five kills on 15 swings with one error (.267) and added a solo block.

Elms returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 25 when it travels to Mount Holyoke College for a tri-match with Castleton State College, the Rams also return to action Saturday with the University of Maine Fort Kent at a tri-match hosted by Anna Maria College. 

Release courtesy of Elms Sports Information.