KEENE, N.H.--The Keene State College volleyball team opened up Little East Conference play with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-9, 25-17) win over UMass Dartmouth at Spaulding Gym on Saturday afternoon.  The Owls also took a 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 20-25, 25-14) win over Lasell College.

Records

• Keene State: 7-6, 1-0 LEC
• UMass Dartmouth:  4-5, 0-1 LEC
• Lasell: 3-5

Up Next

• Keene State travels to Worcester State University on September 20 for a 7 p.m. start.  UMass Dartmouth is also in action on September 20, traveling to Mitchell College, while Lasell hosts Plymouth State that same evening.

Tale of the Tape - UMass Dartmouth

• Strong defense for KSC limited the Corsairs to -.025 hitting, as the Owls also served up 10 aces.  Rachel Lamica had a team high 11 kills and hit .241, adding four service aces, while Courtney Collins had eight kills while hitting .316.
• Katie Cunningham had another double-double, with 32 assists and 11 digs.  Riley Bunker led the Owls with 24 digs, and Taylor Bright also hit double-figures with 13.   
• The Corsairs struggled at the net, registering just one solo block.

Set One Highlights - UMass Dartmouth

• UMass Dartmouth edged out to an early 9-6 lead on a kill by Anita Sengara, and UMD netted the next four points to go up 13-6.  
• One kill from Collins and two from Lamica cut the gap to 14-12, and KSC went on a 7-3 run, spurred by Lamica's serving, to take a 19-17 lead.
• Sengara's kill got the Corsairs back within a point, but that was as close as it got as the Owls got six of the final seven points, finishing with a service ace from Bright to take the set.

Set Two Highlights - UMass Dartmouth

• Keene State quickly opened up an 11-6 lead on a kill by Collins, and the lead continued to swell, as a pair of UMD attack errors and a kill from Lamica made it 18-9.
• Hannah Syzmanski had a pair of kills and Cunningham had a service ace as the Owls ended the set by scoring the final five points.
• The Owls held the Corsairs to -.111 hitting while hitting .323 in the second.

Set Three Highlights - UMass Dartmouth

• The teams traded points to begin the set, but KSC tied the set at nine when Sengara served the ball into the net.
• From that point, it was all Keene State, as the Owls went on a 11-2 run, powered by the serving of Kat Carrel.  Jeni Severino's spike made it 18-11, and Niamh Dodd powered one down for a 20-11 lead.
• The Corsairs went got three straight points to make it 24-17, but Collins closed out the set and the match with a kill.

Tale of the Tape - Lasell

• Lamica had another strong outing, serving up 15 kills without making an error and hitting .500, while Collins also had nine kills and hit .438.  Syzmanski added seven kills and Carrel had six.
• Cunningham added 43 more assists, while Bright led the way with 16 digs and Bunker had 14.  Leslie Hearns chipped in with 13 and Kait West had seven.

Set One Highlights - Lasell

• The Owls eased out to an 11-6 lead on Bunker's service ace, but the Lasers took a 17-15 lead on a kill by Meredith Eagan.
• Back-to-back kills from Lamica tied the set back up at 19, and KSC took the next four points, going up 23-19 on a kill from Syzmanski.
• Lamica then had two more kills to give KSC the set.

Set Two Highlights - Lasell

• Again KSC opened up an early five point advantage, with Lamica getting a kill that made it 9-4.  A pair of errors from Lasell increased the advantage to 16-10.
• Collins powered home a kill that made it 23-14; the Lasers picked up points on three straight kills from Michele Canestro, but it was Canestro's attacking error that gave KSC the second set win.

Set Three Highlights - Lasell

• The Owls found themselves down 8-6, but three Lasell errors and a kill from Severino put them back in from 10-8.
• The Lasers scored five straight for a 13-10 lead, but another Severino kill cut the gap to 13-12.  
• Lasell went back up 19-14 on a KSC attacking error, and though KSC got within two on a kill by Niamh Dodd, the Lasers scored the final three points of the set.

Set Four Highlights - Lasell

• The Owls put any hopes of a comeback to rest, rallying from 3-0 down to take an 11-6 lead on a service ace by Lamica.  
• A kill from Lamica boosted the lead to 18-11, and consecutive kills from Collins and Olivia Mathieu gave the Owls a 23-13 lead.  
• Another Collins kill and a Lasell error ended the match.