KEENE, N.H. – Veronica Kroha and Stephanie Olah each recorded eight kills as the Keene State College women's volleyball team got back in the win column with a 3-1 blowout (25-17, 25-14, 22-25, 25-8) of Worcester State University in non-conference action Tuesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  2-7
• Worcester State:  1-10

Postgame Interview (Coach Weiner)
Postgame Interview (Kelsey Harper)

How It Happened
The Owls never trailed in the opening two sets and saw the Lancers tie it just twice – at 5-5 and 6-6 in the first – as they took command very quickly to snap a seven-match losing skid that included defeats against two nationally-ranked teams and, at the time, two teams receiving votes.  KSC perhaps built momentum in their most recent outing against now No. 16 Wesleyan University (Conn.) despite a loss, and tonight were far too much for a Worcester State team that was held to -.016 hitting and lost their 16th consecutive game in the series.

With the opening set tied at six, Keene State ran off five in a row to take an 11-6 lead, getting kills by Olah, Johnson, and Molly Wetherbee in that stretch.  The advantage basically only grew from there, as Reagan Fleming's ace made it 14-7 and another by Blanchet put KSC in front 17-8.  The Owls cruised from there, going in front by as many as 11 (24-13) on a spike by Wetherbee before Megan Bardis later served into the net to wrap up a 25-17 set.

Nothing much changed in the second, except the suspense might have been removed even earlier as consecutive points by Olah and an ace by Johnson finished off an opening 7-0 surge.  The Owls had a double-digit lead (14-4) 18 points in as Olah registered two more kills in a row, Wetherbee one more, and Kristlynn Hunt a service ace.  Worcester State was only able to get as close as six (16-10) after that, and once that happened, KSC ran off a second run of seven consecutive points that gave them a 23-10 lead in the lopsided set.  Kills from Kroha and Cassidy Samuelson eventually were the final blows as KSC went up 2-0 in the match.

Keene State's string of 17 consecutive set wins in the series dating back to 2016 was snapped in the third as, with many different Owls seeing time, Worcester State did enough to hold on despite attacking at a .028 percentage in the frame (after a .000 mark in the second).  The Lancers opened up a 17-12 lead following Bardis' ace, but saw KSC twice got within one, including on an ace and WSU error that made it 20-19.  A group of young Owls could not bring their team all the way back, as the Lancers sandwiched an ace around two swing miscues for KSC to reopen a four-point edge (23-19) before winning the set 25-22 on Gabby Alberghini's spike.

The fourth, and as it turned out final, set was an Owl runaway from the very beginning, as they opened up a 9-2 lead in the first 11 points – already surpassing what it turned out Worcester State would score total (eight).  Kills by Wetherbee and Johnson on consecutive rallies already had the lead in double-figures just 16 points in (13-3), while 24 points in KSC had recorded 20 of them for a 16-point lead.  The Lancers wound up being held to their season-worst attacking percentage (-.016), including -.250 with 12 errors in what wound up being a 25-8 frame, both teams' most lopsided one of the season.

Kroha had no errors while racking up the eight kills, hitting .533.  Olah hit .150 and added three digs, while Kacie Blanchet had 27 assists, seven digs, and four aces.

Worcester State was placed by nine kills and 13 digs by Camryn Burgio, but she hit .074.  Angela Colonis finished with 13 assists and 10 digs.

Service Aces

• Kroha has 17 kills, one error, and is hitting at a .421 clip in her last two matches.
• KSC is 21-1 all-time against Worcester State, including an 11-0 mark at Spaulding Gymnasium where they have lost only three sets.
• After being plus-36 in kills-to-errors over the opening for matches of the season, the Owls are plus-85 in that category over the last five.

Up Next

• Keene State is at Wellesley College (3-6, 0-3 NEWMAC) on Thursday (September 22) at 7:00 p.m.  The Blue have lost three in a row and four of five and are hitting .088 as a team on the season.
• Worcester State hosts Western New England University (9-4, 1-0 CCC) on the same night (7:00 p.m.).