BOSTON, MASS 11/9/13 - What looked like a potential shutout quickly turned into a battle of attrition as the second seeded Owls of Keene State College (20-12) managed to rally after losing a 2-0 lead to beat out the third seeded Panthers of Plymouth State University (17-16) by the score of 3-2 Saturday afternoon at the UMass Boston Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium in the second Little East Conference Tournament semifinal match.

"Plymouth didn't play well in the first two sets, so we knew they'd come back," said KSC Coach Bob Weiner.  "But I hoped they didn't come back that quick or strong." 

KSC will be making its fifth trip to the finals.  The Owls won their lone title in 2008.  Sunday's championship match at Clark Athletic Center (12 p.m.) will be a rematch of last year's final won by UMass-Boston 3-1.

Keene State jumped out to their 2-0 lead following a 25-10 win in the first game and a 25-9 win in the second.  However in the third game everything changed as the Panthers came roaring back thanks in part to early runs in both the third and fourth games.  In the third, Plymouth defeated the Owls 25-16, before taking a hard fought 25-21 win in the fourth.

With the score deadlocked at 2-2, the two teams stepped back onto the hardwood for the final game to decide who would face the top-seeded Beacons of UMass Boston in Sunday's championship at noon.  Keene State would control the fifth game early-on, but just like before the Panthers would not lie down and die.  They would claw their way back and actually take the lead following a kill by Jana Neiman to make it 13-12 in favor of the Green and Black.

From there the two squads would exchange points and would eventually end-up tied at 14-14.  The Owls would regain the lead after an attack error by the Panthers.  Now with match-point just one serve away, the Owls would clinch the victory and a spot in the championship for the second straight season on a Cat Kazazian kill.

"We played nervous and we found a couple of kids that were less nervous and they got us through the fifth set," said Weiner.  Cat Kazazian had some huge kills for us and that made a huge difference." 

For the Panthers they saw three players finish in double-figures in kills with Nieman scoring a team-high 11.  The Owls were led by Angela Silveri's impressive 21 kills and .354 hitting percentage.  Helping to fuel the hitter's big match was the duo of Brooke Bell and Alexis Michal with their combined 47 assists respectively.

The Panthers looked to the always consistent hands of Kaitlyn Perrotta as she finished with 37 assists.  Defensively it was Sammy Dormio for the Owls and Cassie Pelton for the Panthers that led their respective teams in digs.  Pelton put-up 22 digs for PSU, while Dormio finished the five-game battle with 28.  At the net Plymouth State was dominant scoring 24 block assists.  They also managed one solo stop as well.

Keene State's front row combined for 10 block assists and two solo blocks.  As a team, the Owls posted a .194 hitting percentage, while the Panthers finished with a .128 hitting percentage.

For the Panthers their season came to an end with Saturday's loss, while the Owls live to fight another day as they will face the Beacons in Sunday's championship match scheduled to begin at noon.

"We'll be fine," said Weiner.  "We'll put them in a hotel room.  We feed them. We let them sleep and they'll wake up tomorrow and they'll be good to go.