Bay Path Earns Senior Day Victory

LONGMEADOW, MA –

The Bay Path University volleyball team scored a 3-1 victory on Saturday afternoon against Word of Life Bible College. The victory was the ninth of the season for the Wildcats.

Bay Path took the contest 27-25, 20-25, 25-14, 27-25 as the Wildcats outhit the Huskies, .184 to
.000. Zyiasia Knighton (Springfield, MA) dominated offensively, registering 20 kills on 55 swings.
She also paced Bay Path defensively with a match-high 15 digs.

In the opening set, a service ace from KyLee Finch (Riverton, UT) opened a 19-14 lead for Bay
Path, but the Huskies scored the next five to tie the match up. Bay Path ended up fighting off
two set points late and scored the final two points, clinching the set on a service ace from
Victoria Burkovskiy (Southwick, MA).

Word of Life got on the board with a 25-20 win in the second set, but Bay Path had its best
performance in the third with the 25-14 win. They raced out to a 7-2 lead and never trailed,
including scoring the final four points of the set, two of those coming from the service line by
Kiana Ortiz (Springfield, MA).

Bay Path led for most of the fourth set, including a 20-15 lead late. Leading 21-17, Word of Life
scored the next four points to tie the set up. Bay Path again regained a 24-22 lead, but the
Huskies fought off two straight match points and three overall to tie it up at 25-25. A kill from
Knighton and a Huskies hitting error clinched the set and the match for the Wildcats.

In addition to Knighton's 20 kills, Burkovskiy had six. Michelle Santiago (Springfield, MA) had 23
assists and Finch finished with eight. As a team, Bay Path finished with 16 aces, led by six from
Finch and three each from Burkovskiy, Ortiz, and Beyhan Gonzalez (Patillas, PR).

Defensively, three Wildcats finished in double figures in digs as Knighton finished with 15,
Gonzalez had 13, and Finch added 12.

Fans that were in attendance on Saturday afternoon were treated to a performance from Bay
Path's Essence step dance team in between the first and second sets.

Prior to the beginning of the match, Bay Path honored its two seniors Kiana Ortiz (Springfield,
MA) and Marissa Courchesne (Belchertown, MA).