KEENE, N.H. 10/28/10 – The Keene State women's volleyball team dropped a  3-0 Little East Conference match to UMass-Boston in front of a large senior night crowd at Spaulding Gym on Thursday night.

With the win, UMass-Boston (24-2, 7-0 LEC), the top ranked team in New England, captures the LEC regular championship for the second year in a row.  The Beacons will be the top seed in the upcoming LEC tournament.  Keene State (22-10, 6-1 LEC), which saw its nine match winning streak come to an end, suffered it first LEC loss of the season and will be the second seed in the tournament. Both the Beacons and the Owls will receive first-round byes.

Keene State fell behind 14-6 in the first game and never recovered, losing 25-12.

The second game was a thrilling back-and-forth battle between the two top teams in the LEC.  Trailing 14-6, the Owls got back in the match thanks to Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, N.H.).  The junior middle blocker had consecutive blocks and a kill to get the Owls within a point (21-20).  Junior hitter Kristen Girard (Red Hook, N.Y.) had a kill to tie the score at 21-all.

The Beacons went back up 23-21 on kills by sophomore Shannon Thompson (Moorpark, Ca.) and sophomore setter Frana Burtness-Adams (Fairbanks, AK.).  KSC got the next two points on a kill by Girard and a setting error to make it 23-all.  Junior Molly Rattigan (Dorchester, Mass.) had a kill and assisted on a block with Thompson as the Beacons won the second game 25-23.

UMB pulled away from the Owls to win the third game 25-16. 

"I think we could have played a lot better," said senior libero Jamie Levine (Medfield, Mass.).  "We were a little scared and timid. Hopefully we'll see them next week in the tournament."

"I don't like to lose on senior night and get a conference loss, but we learned a lot" said KSC Coach Bob Weiner.  "I believe given a second chance against them, we'll make it a lot more competitive."

Junior Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) and Girard each finished with eight kills to lead the Owls' offense.  Levine had a match high 15 digs, junior Laurie Whalen (Niantic, Conn.) added 21 assists and Davis chipped in with five kills to go with her two blocks.

Thompson and freshman Corrine Porter (Huntington Beach, Ca.) each had 11 kills to lead the Beacons.  Thompson also had four block assists. Sophomore Bethany Rossell (Colorado Springs, Co.) contributed 11 digs while junior setter Cassy Hanneman (Denver, Co.) finished with 20 assists.

Prior to the match, Keene State honored its three seniors: Julie Bernier (Valhalla, N.Y.), Sammy Datti (Durham, N.H.), and Levine.

KSC wraps up its regular season at a tri-meet at Bowdoin College with Emerson on Saturday.  UMB concludes its regular season at the Judges Classic at Brandies on Saturday.