Women's Volleyball Rallies Back to Win Season Opener at Anna Maria in a Reverse Sweep

PAXTON, Mass. - The Elms College Women's Volleyball team traveled to Anna Maria College for a non-conference match on Saturday afternoon as their season opener of the 2025 season.

BASICS
Score: Elms College 3 (19, 20, 25, 25, 15) | Anna Maria College (25, 25, 22, 13, 6)
Records: Blazers 1-0, 0-0 (GNAC) | AMCats 0-1, 0-0 (MASCAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The opening set would see the two former conference foes battle for the early lead, with Elms earning the first point of the season after a block by senior Angelica Marks (Miami, Fla.). Anna Maria would then take control of the set, scoring seven straight points. The Blazers would not let that streak deter them, when they would bring the score to within a point after a kill by senior Alysha Izquierdo (Holyoke, Mass.), a service ace from senior Alejandra Marin (Dorado, Puerto Rico), and a second block by Marks. The two teams would continue fighting for the lead, with Elms capitalizing on their offensive efforts with the help of back-to-back kills from junior Quiana Gibbs (Porterville, Calif.), kills by senior Jaylen Holman (Las Cruzes, N.M.) and Izquierdo, along with a third block from Marks and a service ace by Izquierdo. As the opening set neared its end, the Blazers would continue their efforts to take the lead with kills junior Lilliana Simmons (Springfield, Mass.), Gibbs, and Izquierdo, along with a service ace by Marks, but the AMCats would take the set 25-19.

The second set would begin with Anna Maria drawing first blood, taking an early three-point lead, but Elms would continue their resilience by taking the lead by a score of 9-4, after three blocks from Marks, Simmons, and Holman, two service aces by graduate student Alyssa Moore (Ludlow, Mass.), and a kill from Izquierdo. The two intrastate opponents would continue their battle for the lead, which would see an additional four kills and a service ace by Gibbs, a block from sophomore Olivia Rivera (Springfield, Mass.) and Holman, and kills by Marks and Rivera, but the AMCats would take the set 25-20, with a two set lead.

The third set of the match would begin with another early battle, following a service ace by first year Angelica Palacios (Hyattsville, Md.) and two kills by Gibbs, but the Blazers would rally to take the first official lead of the set. Following a pair of blocks from Holman and Marks, along with two service aces by Marks, Elms would take a 10-4 lead over Anna Maria. As AMC tried to come back into the set, the Blazers would continue to add tallies to their lead, with the assistance from 10 kills by Holman, Izquierdo, Gibbs, Marks, Simmons, and first year Samantha Haug (Union, N.J.), to take the third set 25-22.

The fourth set would see Elms take the early 4-3 advantage, following two kills from Gibbs and a service ace by Haug. With this early lead, the Blazers would put their foot on the gas pedal and would refuse to give up their lead. Elms would control the set offensively and defensively, recording a total of nine kills, three service aces, and a block to win the set 25-13 and tie the match two sets a piece.

The fifth and final set would begin with another early 5-2 lead for the Blazers, after four straight kills by Marks, Holman and Gibbs, which would force Anna Maria to call a timeout. Following the break, Elms would continue to control the narrative of the set, stopping every offensive attempt from the AMCats, by adding three kills, three service aces, and back-to-back blocks from Marks, which would see the Blazers pull off a reverse sweep to win the final set 15-6 and come back to win the match three sets to two.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Q. Gibbs - 21 kills, 12 digs, three service aces, and two assists.

• Holman - 23 assists, 13 digs, six kills, and five block assists.

• Marks - 10 blocks, five kills, five service aces, and two digs.

• Izquierdo - eight kills, a service ace, and a dig.

• Simmons - 10 digs, five kills, two service aces, and a block assist.

• Moore - 12 digs, two assists, and two service aces.

• Rivera - two block assists, a kill, and a dig.

• Palacios - three digs, three assists, and a service ace.

• Marin - a service ace and two digs.

• Haug - three digs, a kill, a service ace, and two assists.

UP NEXT: The Elms Women's Volleyball team will host Curry College for their home opener on Thursday, September 4th at 6 pm in Picknelly Arena.

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