Box Score PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Keene State College women's volleyball team never trailed in the opening set and found themselves serving after forcing a 23-23 deadlock in the second with a chance to take command of the match Wednesday night, but from there it was all Plymouth State University as the Panthers pulled away for a 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-19) win in Little East Conference action at Foley Gymnasium.
Records
- Keene State: 10-5, 1-1 LEC
- Plymouth State: 12-0, 3-0 LEC
How It Happened
The Owls got off to a flying start, hitting .306 with 15 kills in an opening set where they rolled out to a 7-2 lead and never trailed despite a Plymouth rally, but then played mostly from behind in the ensuing three sets and eventually tumbled to their second consecutive loss after four wins in a row. In the second set, KSC never led by more than one – the last coming at 13-12 – but did fight back from an 18-14 deficit and subsequently answered five consecutive times after the Panthers went in front by one. The last tie came at 23-23 and saw the Owls serving after PSU Alexa Price's bad set, but KSC did not capitalize, surrendering the next two points and the match overall went south after that.
The .306 attacking percentage in the 25-21 first set win (where Plymouth State swung at a .122 rate) wound up being the high watermark, as Keene State's offense faltered thereafter, hitting .162 or lower in each of the final three sets. That stretch included a .000 mark (10 kills, 10 errors) in a match-altering third set where the Panthers fell behind 5-2 early but then embarked on a long 16-3 surge to take a double-digit lead, which they easily closed out as KSC never got closer than seven again.
The Owls led by one just three times very early in the fourth, but PSU put up five in a row for a 7-3 advantage and it was all Panthers after that, as they opened up a 17-7 lead after a 10-4 surge where they scored nine consecutive times at one point, taking complete control. Lilly Stogner had four consecutive spikes in that span and finished with 15 in the match while hitting .350. Nora Ryan added 13 kills on a .286 percentage, while Price had 40 assists. PSU had two record double-figure digs, including Marissa Plaza's 17.
KSC had three reach double-digits in kills, paced by
Emilyann Ashford's 13 on .212 hitting and
Cassidy Samuelson's 12 (.296 pct.).
Kelsey Harper finished with a team best 19 digs and
Sydney Johnson recorded 18, but the Owls had five fewer kills, six more attacking errors, and four more reception errors. Plymouth had a .221 to .152 attacking advantage, as Keene State made 21 attacking miscues over the final three sets, all losses including the final two where Plymouth controlled and led by double-figures.
Service Aces
- Keene State fell to 3-5 in matches where they hit less than .200. Their .152 attacking mark was their second lowest of the season.
- The Owls have dropped back-to-back matches at Foley Gymnasium and are just 4-8 on the road in the all-time series, which KSC leads 22-18 though nine of those defeats came in a skid from 2000 through 2005.
Up Next
- KSC returns home for a Saturday (October 2) tri-match against league foe Eastern Connecticut State University (9-2, 2-1 LEC) at 12:00 p.m. and a non-conference opponent Rochester Institute of Technology (12-2, 2-0 Liberty League) at 4:00 p.m.
- Plymouth State hosts Rhode Island College (5-6, 1-2 LEC) and the University of Maine-Presque Isle (2-6, 1-0 NAC) on the same day.
