KEENE, N.H. 10/23/10 – The Keene State College volleyball team continued their hot streak Saturday, with a pair of victories over UMass Dartmouth and Salve Regina in Spaulding Gymnasium. The Owls handled the Corsairs 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-15, 25-16) in the opening match and topped the Seahawks 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-16).

The Owls (21-9, 5-0 LEC) have won seven in a row, and 10 of their last 11 and remain perfect in Little East play. UMass-Dartmouth, who defeated Salve Regina in the day's second match 3-2 (15-25, 25-15, 25-17, 21-25, 15-10) went 1-1 for the day and are now 21-7 overall and 2-3 in LEC play. Salve dropped both matches to fall to 10-15 on the year.

In the win over UMass-Dartmouth, KSC took the first set 25-19. The scoring went back and forth at 14-14 on a kill from junior Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, N.H.). After that, KSC went on an 11-5 run capped off by Ali Facchini's (Niantic, Conn.) kill for the early 1-0 lead.

The Corsairs came out quick in game two, jumping out to a 9-3 lead, fueled by three Owl attacking and three kills from junior outside-hitter Allie Mastrocola (Swansea, Mass.). KSC came roaring back to make it close on a kill from junior outside-hitter Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) to make it 19-18. But after a UMass-Dartmouth timeout, the Corsairs finished the Owls off with a kill from junior Cami Ascher (Natick, Mass.) for the 25-22 win and to even the game a 1-1.

The Owls took control of games three and four, winning them handedly (25-15, 25-16) for the 3-1 final to remain perfect in Little East Conference play.

On the match, O'Bryant led the way with a match-high 18 kills on 36 attempts to swing .500 on the match. Davis had 15 kills in 32 attempts with one error to hit .438, while junior Kristen Girard (Tivoli, N.Y.) had 11 kills and nine digs in the win. Junior setter Laurie Whalen (Niantic, Conn.) put up 52 set assists in just four games (13 assists per game) to quarterback the Owls attack and senior libero Jamie Levine (Medfield, Mass.) had 24 digs. Facchini continued to help the Owls defensively, with five block-assists on the match.

The Corsairs were led by Mastrocola's 14 kills and 10 digs. Ascher pitched in with 13 kills of her own, while Eleni Tsaparakis (Norwalk, Conn.) had 10 kills for UMass. Sophomore setter Jessica Goncalves (New Bedford, Mass.) had 47 assists and 12 digs of her own, while libero Shannon Brodie (Chelmsford, Mass.) had a team-high 18 digs.

Against Salve Regina, the first set was tied at 10 apiece until Whalen's kill gave the Owls an 11-10 lead. KSC never looked back, taking the game 25-17 with Davis dropping five kills and two blocks.

In game two, the Owls used their momentum to spring out to a 19-13 advantage. Salve Regina came storming back after head coach Lindsay Marshall called a timeout. Junior middle-hitter Julianne Barry (Randolph, Mass.) had her third kill of the set to even the score at 23 apiece. KSC prevailed, with Davis dropping two more kills and a Seahawk attacking error giving KSC the 26-24 game four win.

Game three was the same story, as the Owls dropped the Seahawks 25-16 for the victory.

The Owls were paced by Girard's 17 kills and 13 digs in the match. Davis also had double-digit kills with 11, while Whalen had 42 assists and 10 digs for the Owls. Levine had a team-high 17 digs in the win.

For Salve, Barry had nine kills to lead the Seahawks. Sophomore libero Megan Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass.) had a match-high 24 digs in the losing effort.

KSC returns to action Tuesday, with a road LEC match at the University of Southern Maine at 7 p.m.