KEENE, N.H. – Sydney Johnson finished with 11 kills and 10 digs while Molly Wetherbee added seven spikes and Cassidy Samuelson six, but the Keene State College women's volleyball team was minus-eight in aces and committed five service errors over the first two sets in an eventual 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17) loss to Clark University Thursday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  1-5
• Clark:  4-4

Postgame Interview (Coach Weiner)
Postgame Player Interview (Molly Wetherbee)

How It Happened
Playing at home for the first time in eight days and the first of four matches in a row on their familiar court, the Owls were not able to reverse recent trends as they suffered their fifth straight loss.  Clark, who lost four in a row after season-opening wins over Elms College and Bay Path University, has now won two straight after winning at Worcester Polytechnic Institute two nights ago.  The Cougars put Keene State behind quickly in every set as the Owls started the night by surrendering eight of the first 10 points in a first frame where their last lead was 2-1 and they trailed by as many as nine (14-5, 18-9) on two different occasions.  KSC – as eventually happened in three sets that played out in somewhat similar fashion – fought back behind Johnson (seven kills, .333 pct. in first set) and Wetherbee (three kills) to get within three twice (21-18 and 22-19), but ultimately never strung enough together to erase big runs by the visitors.  The Owls had a chance to serve both times they got within three, but each time served into the net.  Leading 22-19, a Claudia Rivera kill and two KSC errors gave Clark the first set.

Keene State fell behind 8-4 to start the second as they continued to play catch-up, committing five attacking miscues in that span, but got their offense going and ran off six straight on four kills from three different people to take a 10-8 lead.  However, the momentum disappeared too quickly for their liking as they scored just once in the next 10 points and saw the Cougars take a 17-11 lead while posting three kills and two aces over a span of five straight.  In the opening two sets, Clark was plus-eight (9-1) in aces while the Owls made five service errors (to Clark's two) and 13 attacking errors (to Clark's eight).  A Wetherbee kill made it 21-16 in the second, but a serving error gave it back to the Cougars, who closed out a 25-17 final by scoring three of the last four.

Clark handed KSC a third straight sweep by piling up 18 kills while hitting .317 in a third frame that saw them again jump out to a lead, this time 5-0.  The Owls rebounded by scoring six of seven, tying it on a block by Samuelson and Wetherbee, before going in front 8-7 after Wetherbee and Ainsley Hegg stuffed Sofia Scherrer del Llano.  Kristlynn Hunt tacked on an ace after for a two point edge, but 10 points later Keene State found themselves trailing 16-10 after allowing seven straight, six on kills from Rivera and Scherrer del Llano.  Johnson stopped the run with a kill, but the Owls never got the deficit lower than five.  Leading 22-17, Clark closed with one more kill each from Scherrer del Llano and Rivera before Cameron Gill's ace – the Cougars' only one of the third set – ended it.

Clark outhit KSC .262 to .136, including .250 to .108 in the second and .317 to .098in the third after an even first in that category.

Johnson hit .133 for the Owls while Wetherbee added three block assists to her line while hitting .294.  Kacie Blanchet finished with 26 assists and four digs while Kristlynn Hunt had a team-high 11 digs.

Five Cougars had at least five kills, led by Rivera (.267 pct.) who had 12 and added four digs and two aces.  Victoria Pastor had nine spikes on 21 swings.

Service Aces

• Blanchet moved into ninth on Keene State's all-time career assists list with 1,324.  She has appeared in 143 sets over 41 matches in two-plus seasons.
• Opponents have recorded double-digit aces against the Owls in four of six matches.  Conversely, KSC has three matches with two or three.  They had a season-best mark of 10 against Bowdoin College on September 10.
• Clark's visit to Keene was just their second ever and first since 2006, a 3-1 loss.  They have won three of four in the series to take a 7-5 lead after losing the previous four.

Up Next

• The Owls are back at it Saturday (September 17), hosting Johnson & Wales University (R.I.) (1-4) and No. 17 Wesleyan University (Conn.) (4-0) in a tri-match where KSC plays at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.  KSC beat JWU 3-0 in Providence last year.
• Clark also hosts their own tri-match in Worcester on Saturday with matches against Elmira College (5-3) at 11:00 a.m. and Western New England University (7-3) at 3:00 p.m.