BOSTON, Mass. 11/5/10 – For the second time in three years, the Keene State College volleyball team will square off against UMass-Boston for the Little East Conference Championship after the Owls dropped the Panthers 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13) on Friday night in the semifinal round.

"We played well early," said KSC head coach Bob Weiner. "Their defense really picked up but we made an adjustment and got the momentum back for the all important fifth game."

KSC was led by record breaking performances from junior Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) with 26 kills topping her older sister's record of 24 in a match and sophomore Ali Facchini (Niantic, Conn.) had 10 block assists to better her own record of nine from earlier this season.

"Bridget has been gunning for her sister's record for some time now but tonight she was virtually unstoppable," said Weiner. "Facchini's block assist record is great, she just had an insane game."

Junior outside-hitter Kristen Girard (Tivoli, N.Y.) had 17 kills for the Owls as well. Senior libero Jamie Levine (Medfield, Mass.) had 36 digs, while junior setter Laurie Whalen (Niantic, Conn.) quarterbacked the KSC offense with 50 set assists.

UMass Boston, the number one team in the New England Region and the number one seed in the LEC tournament, defeated Western Conn. State 3-0 in their semifinal matchup to advance to the finals. The Championship match will be Saturday, at noon, and will be broadcasted on www.littleeast.tv.