KEENE, N.H. 9/7/11 – The Keene State College women's volleyball team christened its new court at Spaulding Gym with a 3-2 non-conference victory over Westfield State on Thursday night. A crowd of 325 fans were in attendance for the historical event with the first 200 receiving commemorative pieces of the new gym floor.
It was the first win of the season for the KSC Owls (1-2) while the WSC Owls fall to 1-4.
The two teams split the first two games with KSC winning the opener 25-15 and WSC taking the second game 25-17.
With the score knotted at 20-all in the third game, Keene State tallied five of the next six points to win 25-21. Seniors Kristen Girard (Ed Hook, N.Y.), Bridget O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) and Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, N.H.) had key kills in the decisive run.
Westfield State overcame a 24-20 deficit to take the fourth game 26-24, setting the stage for a fifth and deciding game. With score tied at 11-all and senior Laurie Whalen serving, KSC scored the final four points of the fifth game to give the Owls a 15-11 win and the match victory. Davis came up big for the Owls, recording three of KSC's final four points. She sandwiched two kills around a put-back following her own block to make it 14-11. Girard got the final point on a cross-court kill.
"I wasn't concerned at all when we had to go to a fifth game," said Davis. "We played our hearts out."
"It wasn't pretty, but we were able to get the win and that's what counts," said KSC Coach Bob Weiner. "Ellyse Davis was incredible for us. We flipped offensive systems after game three and (setter) Laurie Whalen was able to find Ellyse and it made a huge difference."
"No one on our team thought we'd lose the entire time. It was difficult going from a four point lead to a two point loss in the fourth game, but we picked it up," said O'Bryant. "This is our first match on our new court, so we wanted to do our fans proud and get the win."
Bryant led the Owls' offense with 15 kills to go with a team-high 18 digs. Davis, who had a .600 hitting pct. in the match, finished with 14 kills and three blocks. Girard had a solid performance with 11 kills and 11 digs. Whalen directed the offense with 39 assists to go with six service aces.
Sophomore Lindsay Rescott (Northport, N.Y.) led Westfield with 10 kills, three service aces, 10 digs and five blocks.
Keene State is at the Johnson and Wales Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
