KEENE, N.H. 10/9/10 – The Keene State College volleyball team split their tri-match Saturday afternoon with Colby Sawyer and Brandeis. The Owls defeated Colby Sawyer 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-22) in the first match, before falling to the Brandeis Judges 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 26-34) in the final match of the day. In between the two games, the Judges topped the Chargers 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-23) to go 2-0 on the day.

After the games, the Owls split puts them at 14-9 overall on the year. Brandeis improves to 13-7 on the season with the two wins, while Colby Sawyer drops to 10-10 and 0-2 against Keene State this season.

Against the Chargers, the Owls were led by a 15 kill, 14 dig double-double from junior Kristen Girard (Tivoli, N.Y.). Also reaching double-digit kills was junior  Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) with 10. Juniors Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, N.H.) and Braelan O'Toole (Derry, N.H.) each had eight kills in the win. Junior setter Laurie Whalen (Niantic, Conn.) had 40 assists to quarterback the Owls attack, while seniors Jamie Levine (Medfield, Mass.) and Sammy Datti (Durham, N.H.) had 26 and 16 digs for KSC.

In the second set, Charger outside-hitter Michelle Doody (Franklin, Mass.) broke the all-time kills record, passing Kathy Couture with 1,507 career kills.

In the loss to Brandeis, Girard led the way with 12 kills for KSC. O'Bryant was the only other Owl to reach double-digit kills with 10. O'Bryant also finished second on the team in digs with 10. Levine finished the match with a game-high 13 digs, while Whalen put up 31 set assists in the loss.

For the Judges, senior Paige Blasco (Greeley, Colorado) had a match-high 15 kills. Twin sister Abby Blasco (Greeley, Colorado) had 21 assists in two sets for the Judges, while sophomore libero Susan Sun (Acton, Mass.) had 16 digs in the win.

The Owls return to action Tuesday, with a key Little East Conference at Western Conn. State. Brandeis plays next on Saturday with a UAA Round Robin against Case Western Reserve and NYU. Colby Sawyer hits the court again on Wednesday, with a TCCC match against the University of New England.