Box Score KEENE, N.H. – Sophomore
Sydney Johnson finished with 10 kills while hitting .308 and the Keene State College women's volleyball team hit .291 while limiting Plymouth State University to -.009 to cruise to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-19) sweep of the Panthers in Little East Conference Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.
Records
- Keene State: 3-1, 3-1 LEC
- Plymouth State: 2-1, 2-1 LEC
How It Happened
Keene State scored the first six points of the match and only trailed four times in the three sets – never by more than two points – while winning their third straight since a tough five-set loss to open the spring. Plymouth's only leads were 1-0 and 5-3 in the second set and 2-0 and 3-2 in the third, and none of those lasted long. The Owls broke away from a 9-9 tie in the second set by going on a 12-1 burst to build a 21-10 lead and then scored 10 of 13 in the third set to go in front 10-5, after which Plymouth was never closer than four again. Keene State hit at least .200 in all three sets, including a match-best .429 in the second set where they made just one error, while PSU's best percentage was .093 in the third set. KSC made only nine errors on the day, 20 less than the Panthers, who had at least nine in every set. In addition to Johnson, the Owls got seven kills (.583 pct.) and two solo blocks from
Emilyann Ashford and six (.500 pct.) from freshman
Cassidy Samuelson.
Kacie Blanchet finished with another double-double of 29 assists and 21 digs. Elsa MacNeill (-.077 pct.) and Maria Wimpey (.263 pct.) each led Plymouth with seven spikes.
The Owls scored the first six points on the match and never trailed while winning 25-16 in the opening set. After PSU closed within 7-5, helped by a kill and consecutive blocks, KSC answered, scoring seven of the next eight to build their edge up to 17-9. Aces by
Reagan Fleming and
Kacie Blanchet along with a team block by Samuelson and
Elizabeth Johnson highlighted the surge. Plymouth only got as close as five after that, and KSC took the upper hand in the match after a kill by
Sydney Johnson and another block, this one from Blanchet and
Elizabeth Johnson.
The second and third sets were not much different and played out in a similar fashion, with Plymouth hanging around early before big runs by Keene State helped them pull away. In the second, after a KSC service error and then a Plymouth ace on successive points, the Owls outscored the Panthers 12-1 to go up 21-10.
Sydney Johnson had a trio of kills in that span, which was capped off by an ace from Blanchet. KSC wrapped up the set by scoring four out of five points, with Samuelson getting a pair of kills and
Courtney Chouinard one.
Keene State established an early edge in the third frame with a 10-3 burst that put them up by five points, and Plymouth struggled to keep up after that, as the Owls later scored three in a row to make it 15-8. Nora Ryan brought the Panthers within 17-13 a short time later as Plymouth had three kills and an ace in that stretch, but KSC immediately hit back with four, turning to
Sydney Johnson for a spike to make it 21-13. The Owls brought up match point following kills from
Elizabeth Johnson and Samuelson before wrapping up a 25-19 win and securing a sweep on a PSU error.
Service Aces
- Sydney Johnson, only in her second season and a severely abbreviated one at that, has 98 kills in her past 10 matches dating back to October 23, 2019.
- The Owls went 3-0 at home this spring and are 53-12 at Spaulding Gymnasium since the beginning of the 2015 season.
- Keene State is 22-17 all-time against Plymouth and has won five of the past six, three in straight sets.
Up Next
- Keene State's final spring match is Thursday, April 22 at UMass-Dartmouth (2-0, 2-0 LEC). The opening serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Corsairs play at Eastern Connecticut State University tomorrow.
- Plymouth State also takes on ECSU (2-0, 2-0 LEC) next for their lone home match at Foley Gymnasium this spring on Wednesday (April 21) at 7:00 p.m.
