KEENE, N.H. 10/15/13 – Sophomore Angela Silveri (Poughquag, N.Y.) had a season high 16 kills to go with seven digs and four service aces to lead the Keene State College women's volleyball team to a hard-fought 3-1(25-22, 21-25, 25-19 and 25-16) Little East Conference victory over Western Conn. State University at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night.

It was a key rebound win for Keene State (13-10, 3-1 LEC), which had lost four out of its last five matches.  With the victory the Owls move into a three-way tie for second place in the LEC with Western Conn. and Plymouth State. However, KSC has the upper hand, having already defeated both PSU and WCSU head-to-head this season. The Colonials (17-5, 3-1 LEC) have dropped two out of their last three matches. 

"Lately, we've been struggling to finish matches and this game we felt absolutely comfortable with what we were doing," said junior libero Sammy Dormio (Leesburg, Va.), who was all over the floor, finishing with 18 digs.  We played with a lot of confidence and felt like a team. 

"We pulled through. Even though we got down in the second game, we managed to fight back the next two because we knew we had to get it done," said Silveri. "It was an important match."

"I was confident.  We had a terrific practice yesterday.  We told them what we wanted them to do and they got it.  I couldn't be happier."  

After trading points in the opening set, KSC took a 24-19 lead on a service ace by Silveri and held on for the 25-22 victory.

KSC got to within two points (21-23) before dropping the second set 21-25.  A block by junior Heather Williams (Kingston, N.Y.) secured the winning point for the Colonials.

Silveri was the story in the key third set. The sophomore hitter had three service aces to put the Owls up 22-16 and finished off the set with a kill. "Serving is so important. I've been focusing on it a lot and I think that helped us tonight,' said Silveri, who had a .419 hitting percentage in the match.

Keen State defense was instrumental in the fourth and deciding set.  Dormio went tumbling to get a dig that turned into a point that gave KSC a 15-10 lead. "There's a sigh of relief when that happens," said Dormio. "You can take a breath san say that was my team."

Later in the set, sophomores Christine Hadfield (Waterford, Conn.) and Madeline Nossiff (Portsmouth, N.H.) combined on a block that put the Owls up 21-13.

Nossiff had 10 kills and two blocks while Hadfield finished with nine kills and three blocks. 

Both KSC setters had fine games.  Sophomore Alexis Michal (Windham, N.H.) had 22 assists while freshman Brooke Bell (Melrose, Mass.) finished with a season high 21 assists.  

Freshman Karissa Smith (Bristol, Conn.) led Western Conn. with 15 kills.  Senior Rachel Volpe (Southington, Conn.) had 16 digs while junior setter Jennifer Hogan (Franklin Square, N.Y.) finished with 21 assists.

Keene State hits the road on Thursday for a non-conference match against Western New England (7 p.m.). Western Conn. returns home to face Baruch (N.Y.) College on Thursday.