CASTLETON, Vt. – Cassidy Samuelson and Emilyann Ashford combined for 23 kills against just six errors as the Keene State College women's volleyball team handed Castleton University a sixth consecutive loss with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-16) sweep in a Little East Conference match Wednesday night at Glenbrook Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  12-8, 3-2 LEC
• Castleton:  4-13, 0-5 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls posted a needed victory to remain in the mix toward the top of the Little East Conference standings, beating a Spartans program still searching for their first league victory 3-0 for the fourth consecutive time.  KSC outhit Castleton by a sizable .286 to .073 margin, including .300 to -.026 in a commanding third set that saw the Owls pile up an 18-6 edge in kills, while moving back over .500 in conference contests at 3-2.  Keene State currently sits in a three-way tie for third in the league with Western Connecticut State University (def. 3-2) and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (lost to, 3-1), just a half-game behind Eastern Connecticut State University, a team the Owls came back to beat on October 2.  KSC has just three league tilts remaining, starting with a Saturday matchup at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, who will enter with a 2-3 Little East record.

Despite the straight set victory, it was not always smooth sailing for the Owls, who found themselves trailing 5-2 early on in the opening set and then 16-15 in the third.  However, with the help of making 12 fewer errors in the match, they overcame those struggles with relative ease, turning a 9-9 tie in the opening set into a 21-13 edge with a 12-4 burst.  Castleton was never closer than five again in that set, and never led at all in the second as KSC tallied eight of the first 10 points and eventually led by double-digits for the first time at 18-8 after running off four consecutive points.  The Spartans were pluckier again in the third and had the better of the play early as they looked to extend the match, going up 10-7 on a kill by Hailey Martinovich and 12-9 after an ace by her.  Three in a row for CU shortly thereafter helped them rebound to go back up one (16-15) after their lead had disappeared, but they never scored again.  Three consecutive kills, two by Samuelson, kickstarted a 10-0 closing push for the Owls, who wound up winning the third frame by a match-high nine and outhit Castleton by a match-high 326 points.  The Spartans had actually recorded three more kills than KSC over the first two sets, but were severely outhit and finished with 12 more attacking errors in the match overall.  The Owls swung at a .344 clip in the second set where they led throughout.
Kacie Blanchet had another strong match for Keene State, posting a 34 assist, 14 dig double-double while adding a pair of aces.  Sarah Williams finished with 14 digs and Sydney Johnson had nine kills and seven digs.

Martinovich posted 13 kills and 13 digs for the Spartans, who actually finished with two more aces (7-5) than KSC after being minus-25 in that category over the previous three head-to-head matchups.  Bre MacDuff had four of those to go along with 27 assists and nine digs.

Service Aces

• Samuelson has now recorded double-digit kills in three straight matches and four of the last six.  Ashford has six matches of 10 or more spikes this season.
• Keene State has played Castleton three times at Glenbrook Gymnasium since the two became conference opponents and just once at Spaulding Gymnasium (this past spring).

Up Next

• As mentioned, the Owls travel to UMass-Boston (8-11, 2-3 LEC) for a 2:00 p.m. start this Saturday, October 16.
• Castleton goes to league-leading Plymouth State (18-0, 6-0 LEC) on Friday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m.