KEENE, N.H. – Cassidy Samuelson had 22 kills and Sydney Johnson 20 on the day, but the Keene State College volleyball team had a hard time finishing and wound up falling twice on Saturday at Spaulding Gymnasium in non-conference action, losing 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20) to Johnson and Wales University (R.I.) and by the same score to No. 17 Wesleyan University (Conn.) (23-25, 25-12, 25-13, 25-20).

Records

• Keene State:  1-7
• Johnson & Wales (R.I.):  2-5
• No. 17 Wesleyan (Conn.):  7-0

Postgame Interview (Coach Weiner)
Postgame Interview (Veronica Kroha)

How It Happened – Johnson & Wales
Peyton Oliver had 20 kills on 49 swings as JWU picked up their second win of the season, holding KSC to a .046 attacking percentage.  Additionally, the Owls were minus-15 in aces as serve receptions routinely stopped any building momentum over the course of the match.  Keene State rebounded from a 25-17 opening set loss in which they chalked up seven kills and six attacking errors to win the second frame in extra points (26-24), yet never trailing in the process.  The Owls moved out to a slim 5-4 edge in the initial moments of the third, but were then outscored 13-5 in an 18-point span to fall behind 17-10.  That span wrapped up with three consecutive Wildcat aces to blow it open.  KSC scored three out of four on spikes by Gigi Stake and Molly Wetherbee only to surrender the next five to fall into a double-digit hole.  A late 6-1 burst chopped the deficit in half (24-19), but an attacking error wrapped up the set and gave Johnson & Wales a 2-1 edge in the match.  The Wildcats hit only .075 in doing so, but KSC was sub-zero at -.027 and had only six kills in the third.

The fourth was close throughout, but Keene State's offense remained stuck mostly in neutral, and that in combination with a 6-1 gap in aces in favor of the visitors was ultimately too much to overcome.  The Owls moved out to a 5-3 lead on a Samuelson kill, but then gave up four in a row to fall behind by two and ultimately never led again despite tying it three times thereafter.  The match-deciding stretch began when Daniela Rank swung down a feed from Kyra Hissner, kicking off a stretch of six consecutive Johnson & Wales points that turned what was a one-point set into a 20-13 gap.  Halle Medici had three aces in that span as the Wildcats continued to add to their total.  Keene State hit back with seven of the next nine to make a run at it – trailing 22-20 – but, who else for the Wildcats, Oliver then punished three consecutive kills to leave the Owls with a sixth loss in a row.

Oliver added 11 digs and two aces while attacking at a .184 clip.

Samuelson had a team-best nine spikes for KSC against just one error.  Johnson had eight.  Reagan Fleming added 15 digs and Kelsey Harper 12.

How It Happened – Wesleyan
The Owls had chances against the No. 17 nationally-ranked Cardinals, winning the opening set on .474 hitting before eventually leading a must-win fourth set 18-14, but Wesleyan's high-powered offense and untimely service errors by KSC proved to be too much.

After a two-hour break following a more disappointing opening match, Keene State came out hot, ripping off six straight early in the opening set on four kills and two aces to take a 9-7 lead.  Stephanie Olah notched her third kill soon after for a 10-8 edge before a kill by Veronica Kroha and ace by Kacie Blanchet made it 13-10.  Bella Ahearn had three kills and assisted on a block during a 7-1 run by Wesleyan as the visitors retook a three-point advantage, but it wouldn't last despite Michelle Jorba's spike that made it 22-19, as KSC roared back with a 6-1 finishing push that featured three kills from Kroha, one from Johnson to go along with an ace, and a set-clinching spike from Olah.
The Cardinals commanded the next two sets in a big way, winning 25-12 and 25-13 to take the lead in the match, but they had their hands full again in the fourth as the Owls looked to force a deciding fifth set.  KSC rolled out to a 4-0 lead all on the back of Samuelson, who had four straight kills, before Kroha made it 5-1.  The Cardinals bounced back with blocks on three of four points later to take their first lead (10-9), short-lived as it was, as Samuelson and Kroha kills helped push the Owls back in front 13-10.  An ace from Johnson maintained a three-point KSC edge (15-12) before kills by Kroha and Samuelson made it 17-14.  Kroha then came up with an ace to match the Owls' set-high four-point lead and force a Wesleyan timeout as the match was trending toward a fifth set, but KSC could not finish.  Out of the stoppage, the Owls served into the net to sap their momentum a little, and then moments later saw Kiana Yuhl ace twice in a row to tie it at 18.  The Cardinals' run wasn't done there, as it stretched to 7-0 on a spike from Kathryn Morton that made it 21-18.  KSC scored the next two on exceedingly rare Wesleyan attacking errors to stay right there, but a kill each by a trio that combined for 52 in the match (Sophia Lindus, Ahearn, and Morton) engineered a 4-0 closing run.  Keene State posted 32 kills against only eight miscues in the first and fourth sets, but were done in by a 14-to-15 kill-to-error mark in the middle to frames where they allowed five or more points in a row four times.

Wesleyan hit .421 in the match and KSC .167.

Samuelson paced the Owls with 13 kills on .219 hitting while Johnson added 12 kills, five digs, and three aces.  Kroha had nine kills against only one attacking error.  Fleming had 10 digs and Blanchet 36 assists and six digs.

Sophia Lindus had 19 kills (.472 pct.) for the Cardinals.  Jorba added 17 and Ahearn 16.  On 86 recorded swings, they had just four miscues.  Wesleyan had nine blocks as a team to just one for KSC.

Service Aces

• Olah's eight kills against Wesleyan were an individual season high.
• The Owls are hitting .112 as a team on the season.
• KSC had swept JWU 3-0 last year in Providence.  They are 8-5 all-time in the series but 0-2 at home (7-3 on the road).
• Wesleyan defeated Johnson & Wales in the middle match of the day, 3-1.  The Cardinals won 25-22 in the opening set and dropped the second 25-19 before overpowering the Wildcats 25-8 and 25-13 in the next two.

Up Next

• The Owls wrap up a string of four straight matches at home Tuesday (September 20) when they welcome Worcester State University (1-9, 0-1 MASCAC) at 7:00 p.m.
• Wesleyan goes to Trinity College (Conn.) (3-3, 0-1 NESCAC) on Wednesday, September 21 at 6:00 p.m.
• Johnson & Wales hosts the University of Massachusetts-Boston (2-7, 0-1 LEC) on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.