Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass. –
Cassidy Samuelson started her sophomore campaign with a career-best nine kills against just two errors as the Keene State College volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-13) win over Skidmore College at the Springfield College Invitational Friday evening at Dana Gymnasium.
Records
- Keene State: 1-0
- Skidmore: 0-1
How It Happened
It was a strong showing by the Owls to begin the season, as they never trailed by more than one at any point in the match and came up with runs at key times to keep Skidmore well at bay. KSC held the Thoroughbreds to a -.045 attack percentage overall, including negative territory in the final two sets, while also racking up 11 aces in the match.
Emilyann Ashford notched kills on six of her nine total attacks and made just one error to get off to an impressive start in 2021. She now has 44 kills over her past six matches and just seven errors.
Kacie Blanchet, who had an impressive stint this past season in a significantly altered rookie campaign, finished with 20 assists, eight digs, and three aces.
Reagan Fleming finished with a match-high 13 digs. Chelsea Winegar led Skidmore with six kills, but it took 18 tries to reach that number.
The teams played to a 15-15 tie in the opening set, with Skidmore wiping out a pair of three-point advantages for the Owls in the early going. However, a kill from Samuelson and an ace by
Brianna Azzinaro helped spark a run of seven consecutive KSC points as the Owls took firm control. That stretch finished with a flurry, as Ashford and
Ali McLoughlin blocked an attack by Olivia Knowlton before Azzinaro tacked on two more of her four aces for a 22-15 lead. Skidmore scored four of five to stay within four, but a spike by
Sydney Johnson and a Thoroughbreds error gave the season's first set to Keene State.
The second frame might have been the closest by score, but the Owls held Skidmore to four more errors than kills and trailed only one time (22-21) before another timely run to take control of the match. Early on, the Owls were not having much trouble, as another Azzinaro ace and Ashford kill put KSC up 8-4, which later became 14-8 after four more points in a row, two on kills by
Sydney Johnson. Skidmore scored four straight to get within two, but Keene State pushed the lead back out to 19-14 after two more kills from Samuelson. Trailing 21-17, the Thoroughbreds threatened to steal an improbable set win and even the match after scoring five consecutive points for their first and only lead, but Ashford got the Owls back on track and they took a 2-0 lead in the match by scoring the set's final four points.
With a chance to close out the match in the third set, KSC stormed out of the gates, scoring six straight points and eight of the opening nine to continue the momentum from the end of the previous set. The Owls hit a whopping .407 in the 25-13 win, racking up 12 kills against just one error (Skidmore hit -.029, which actually wound up being an improvement on their second set mark). The Thoroughbreds never got closer than five the rest of the way, with Keene State steadily adding to their advantage throughout, including when a kill by Ashford, block by Johnson, and ace by Fleming made it 15-7. The lead reached double-figures (19-8) when the Owls tacked on four of the next five, and KSC later polished off the sweep in style, posting three consecutive spikes from three different players (Ashford, Blanchet, Johnson).
Service Aces
- Keene State also opened their last full season (2019) against Skidmore at Springfield, posting a 3-2 victory by winning the final two sets in commanding fashion. This was just the fifth meeting all-time between the two sides.
- Blanchet has notched at least 20 assists in all six of her career matches. She also has 64 digs overall.
Up Next
- KSC takes on Brandeis University (1-1) and Westfield State University (0-2) tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively, to wrap up the Springfield Invitational.
- After taking on Westfield this evening, Skidmore has matchups with Endicott College (1-0) and Springfield (2-0) slated for tomorrow (1:30 p.m./3:30 p.m.).
