WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Keene State College volleyball team posted their third sweep in five contests this season, beating Westfield State University 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-16) on Wednesday evening at the Woodward Center.

Records

• Keene State:  4-1
• Westfield State:  0-4

How It Happened

Megan Palmer had her fifth consecutive match with double-digit kills (10), while adding five digs and two aces.  Olivia Mathieu recorded 11 digs and four kills.  Kelly Hunt had seven kills, a .333 hitting percentage and three block assists for the Owls, who also received 24 assists and six digs from Bailey Wilson.

KSC rolled out to a big lead early, scoring eight of the first ten points, including seven straight at one point, and were never threatened over the remainder of the first set.  Consecutive kills from Palmer widened the lead to 12-3 and, later, a service ace from Jennifer Severino and a kill from Mathieu made it 21-9.  Four consecutive kills, three from Niamh Dodd, ended the set.

The second set was a different story, as Westfield took leads of 7-3 and 13-6 in the early going.  WSU still led 17-11, but Keene State came back quickly, getting kills from Palmer and Hunt to draw within one.  Three consecutive Westfield errors gave KSC a 20-18 advantage, and the New Hampshire version of the Owls prevailed from there, as another kill from Mathieu and a Westfield attack error gave KSC the set.  Keene State wound up going on a 19-8 burst to go up 2-0 in the match.

WSU took the upper hand in the third set, going ahead 6-2 after an ace, but Keene State scored nine of the next 11 to go ahead 11-8 and never trailed again.  A pair of kills from Ali McLoughlin helped put KSC ahead 19-14 and, later, a kill from Hunt made it 23-16.  Two Westfield attacking errors ended the match.

Service Aces

• Keene State has won 28 of their last 35 matches overall and now leads the all-time series against Westfield State 24-8.
• KSC had 38 kills in the match, while limiting Westfield to just 13 and a -.128 hitting percentage.  WSU had a sub-zero hitting percentage in all three sets.
• Wilson has recorded at least 23 assists in all five matches this season and is averaging 9.47 per set in her career.  She is currently ninth on the all-time assists list (1098) and needs just 203 to pass Brooke Bell for eighth.

Up Next

• Keene State will play the first day of the Granite State Challenge on the campus of Rivier University on Friday, September 7.  The Owls will play Rochester Institute of Technology at 6:00 pm before playing the host Raiders at 8:00 pm.
• Westfield State will head to the Trinity College Tournament and open with a match against Clark University on Friday, September 7 at 5:00 pm.