NORTH ADAMS, Mass.--The Keene State College volleyball team hit over .400 in the second and fifth sets, taking a 3-2 (20-25, 25-6, 25-21, 21-25, 15-7) win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Thursday night at Amsler Gym.

Records

• Keene State: 11-7
• MCLA: 9-11

Up Next

• Keene State travels to Western Connecticut State on Saturday for a tri-match that also includes Bridgewater State.  The Owls will play at noon and 4 p.m.
• MCLA hosts a tri-match on Saturday, with Johnson Sate (Vt.) and Wells (N.Y.) attending.

Tale of the Tape

• Courtney Collins led the Owls with 15 kills, hitting .560 with a solo block and five block assists. It's the third time in the last five matches Collins has hit over .500 with at least 10 kills. Rachel Lamica added another 15 kills with six digs, a service ace, a solo block, and a block assist.
• Katie Cunningham had yet another game with 40+ assists, piling up 43, and was one of four players with double-digit digs, adding 12.
• Riley Bunker had 18 digs, while Leslie Hearns had 12 and Taylor Bright added 11.  
• The Trailblazers were held to .059 hitting for the match, including -.290 in the second set.

Set One Highlights

• The Trailblazers took an early 6-2 lead on a kill from Allison Clark.  An MCLA error got the Owls within 10-6, but the Trailblazers extended the lead to 14-8 on a ball handing error by KSC.
• Keene State grabbed the next four points, highlighted by kills from Lamica and Collins, and another kill from Collins got KSC within 16-15.
• Sam Anderson's service ace gave MCLA a 19-15 lead, and the Owls did not get closer than three, ending the set on a kill by Melissa Hopkins.

Set Two Highlights

• After the two teams traded the first two points of the set, Keene State completely dominated.  The Owls scored the next nine points, as Lamica had three kills.
• The Trailblazers made 12 errors in the second set, including three in a row that pushed the KSC lead to 17-3.
• The Owls closed out the set netting the final six points, with Collins putting the exclamation point on the set.

Set Three Highlights

• The third set began similar to the second, as Keene State took a 5-2 lead on Cunningham's kill.  MCLA tied the match at seven on a kill from Rebecca Godbout, but the Owls nosed back in front 12-11 on a kill by Hannah Syzmanski.
• Collins and Jeni Severino combined for a block on O'Rourke for a 16-15 KSC, lead, and the Owls slowly pulled away, going up 21-17 on an MCLA error.
• Back-to-back kills from Lamica and Severino gave the Owls a 25-21 set win.

Set Four Highlights

• Severino had consecutive kills for an early 5-2 lead, but the Trailblazers got a combined block from Kayla Walker and Alyssa Keegan for a 9-8 lead.
• The Owls went up 14-12 on Godout's servce error, only to see MCLA get the next five points to take a 17-14 lead.
• Jenny Nohara served up an ace to get the Owls within 21-20, but the Trailblazers forced a deciding fifth set when Beatrice Lechler ended the set with an ace of her own.

Set Five Highlights

• The Owls did not allow the comeback to be completed, jumping out to an 8-1 lead as Lamica had three kills, Collins had two, and Hannah Syzmanski had one in the early going.
• A kill from Clark got the Trailblazers within 11-7, but that was as close as it got, as the Owls took control of the serve following an error and Collins had two kills and Severino had the final spike to end the match.