Seawolves Drop Season Opener at Bay Path, 3–1

LONGMEADOW, Mass. – Southern Maine Community College (0-1) dropped its season opener on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-1 (21-26, 25-22, 22-25, 17-25) to Bay Path. The Seawolves leveled the match with a strong second set fueled by a serving surge, but the Wildcats edged a tight third and pulled away early in the fourth to close it out.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Bay Path took the opener 26–21, using a late 5–1 push sparked by outside hitter Anastasiya Tsetsko to flip a 20–19 margin and close the set.

SMCC answered in set two. After trailing 1–4, the Seawolves reeled off a 14–4 run behind a flurry of aces from Elise Kaplan (Cumberland, Maine) and Alyssa Rousseau (Yarmouth, Maine), plus kills from Lilly Andreasen (Gorham, Maine) and Kadie Madera (Sanford, Maine) to go up 15–8. Bay Path clawed back to 22–22, but Kaplan delivered an ace and Sivan Semo (Rollinsford, N.H.) finished a Yana Montell (Gardiner, Maine) set on set point for a 25–22 equalizer.

The third set swung both ways. SMCC raced out 3–0 on Dalia Nelson's (Kennebunk, Maine) serve, but a pair of Tsetsko aces helped the Wildcats surge ahead 13–7. The Seawolves responded with blocks to tie it at 21–21 before Bay Path strung together the final points, 25–22.

Bay Path seized control early in the fourth with a 7–0 start and never looked back. SMCC trimmed the deficit to 17–24 on kills from Meryk Lewellen (Gorham, Maine) and Andreasen, but Tsetsko capped the match, 25–17.

NEXT UP:

The Seawolves continue play this week with a conference matchup against NHTI hosted by SMCC at the HUB on Wednesday September 10^th at 5:30PM. Visit the SMCC volleyball schedule page for the latest dates and times.