KEENE, N.H. 9/25/10 – The Keene State College women's volleyball defeated LEC rival Eastern Conn. State 3-0, then came back after being down 2-0, to top Division II Saint Michael's College 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

The Owls improved to 9-6 overall on the year (2-0 in LEC play) and have won five straight matches dating back to September 18th's win over Rhode Island College.

Against Eastern Conn. the Owls were led by junior Kristen Girard's (Tivoli, N.Y.) 17 kills in 21 attempts to hit a blistering .714 on the match. Junior setter Laurie Whalen (Niantic, Conn.) put up 35 assists for the Owls, while senior libero Jamie Levine (Medfield, Mass.) had a game-high 11 digs for the Owls in the win.

For Eastern Conn. State, Kristianna Ibsen (Shelton, Conn.) had a team-high 11 kills, while junior setter Samantha Slonski (Griswold, Conn.) had 23 assists in the losing effort.

In the match against Saint Michael's College, the Owls fell behind 2-0 (23-25, 26-28) in two hard fought games before battling back to win the last three (25-12, 25-19, 15-3).

In the final game, the Purple Knight's jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind sophomore Katie Walsh's (N. Kingstown, R.I.) six straight service points, and two kills from sophomore Tracy Peterka (Newport Beach, Calif.). After the Owls finally got on the board in the fifth, SMC extended their lead to 12-6 on a kill from senior middle-hitter Lindsey Frazier (Ballston Lake, N.Y.).

KSC then started their run, with nine straight service points from Whalen's service and two kills apiece from Girard and junior middle-hitter Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, N.H.). After Frazier ended KSC's rally to make it 14-13, Davis threw down her 18th kill of the match for the 3-2 comeback win.

Junior captain Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) finished the match with 23 kills, which ties her career-high set last year against Rhode Island College in the Little East Conference Quarterfinals. Davis totaled 18 kills on 26 attempts to hit .577 on the match, while Levine, Girard and senior captain Sammy Datti (Durham, N.H.) each finished with double digit digs with 19, 14, and 13 respectively. Whalen finished with a career-high 51 assists, five service aces and nine digs in the win.

"It's good to see us getting out of trouble," said KSC head coach Bob Weiner. "We came out flat in the first two games, but battled back against Saint Michael's and I am really very proud of them."

Breaking a school record was sophomore right-side hitter Ali Facchini (Niantic, Conn.) with eight block assists on the match, as the Owls got up to the net for 13 total blocks as a team.

For SMC, Walsh, Peterka, and senior Sara Reney (Sunapee, N.H.) each had double-digit kills with 12, 10 and 10 respectively. Freshman setter Jessica McLeod (Medfield, Mass.) finished with 39 assists, while sophomore libero Courtney Dunne (Hopkinton, Mass.) had 12 digs in the losing effort.

The will hit the road for the Oneonta State Tournament next weekend and will face Hartwick, SUNYIT, R.I.T. and Oneonta State on the weekend.