DUDLEY, Mass. –
Gigi Stake and
Molly Wetherbee combined for 21 kills and only three errors while
Stephanie Olah added eight kills on .214 hitting, but it was not enough as the Keene State College women's volleyball team stumbled to a 3-1 (21-25, 19-25, 25-12, 21-25) loss at Nichols College on Tuesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Records
- Keene State: 8-11
- Nichols: 11-4
How It Happened
KSC started slowly, falling into an immediate 11-4 deficit in the opening set, but appeared poised to come back to even the match after taking a 9-2 lead in the second frame. It was not to be, as they then saw the Bison tally 18 of the next 21 points to turn the seven-point deficit into an eight-point lead, and that was enough for a 2-0 match lead and eventual win in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The Owls opened a 9-2 edge in the third, and staved off a loss for the moment by closing out a dominant 25-12 set win that saw them outhit Nichols .357 to -.059. However, that proved to be the only frame the home team hit less than .243. They hit .300 in the second and .310 in the fourth. KSC's momentum from their third set win proved to be fleeting, as with a chance to force a deciding fifth set, they allowed seven of the first nine points and never led. After trailing 15-9, the Owls ran off five in a row to get within one and were within 16-15 on a kill from Wetherbee a minute later, but a service error kept Nichols in front, and four points later the Bison were up four (20-16) again. The Owls got as close as two twice, the final time at 22-20 after Nichols' service error that gave them the ball back, but Luna Colozzo fired down a kill for the home team and the Owls then followed with an attacking error to be up against match point, which the home team converted two points later through Colozzo, who tied for the team lead with 10 kills (.217 pct.) – six of which came in what turned out to be the key second set. Ryley Plourde also had 10 kills for Nichols and was somebody KSC had little answer for, as she hit .833 and needed only 12 swings to reach that number. Five of her kills came in the match-clinching fourth set. In that frame, the Owls had only six digs as a team. Liz Diorio of Nichols had seven on her own, and the Bison as a group had 17.
Keene State outhit Nichols .214 to .192 overall, but the vast majority of that differential came in the third, in which KSC had a 12-5 edge in kills. Nichols otherwise had 45 spikes and the Owls 34.
Colozzo and Plourde each had 10 kills for the Bison, while Kya Burdier finished with nine. Diorio had a match-high 20 digs.
"We have three consecutive conference matches that'll decide our season coming up, and we're going to have to play a whole lot better in every aspect of the game in order to get where we want to be," said Keene State head coach
Bob Weiner.
Stake led KSC with 12 kills and hit .385 on 26 swings, while Wetherbee had nine on a .533 attacking percentage to go along with three solo blocks and two block assists.
Alexis Small had 20 assists and
Reagan Fleming 18 digs.
Service Aces
- It was the first-ever meeting between the teams.
- Stake has 33 kills over her last three matches and is now one kill from the team lead.
- KSC is being outhit .185 to .142 overall through 19 matches.
Up Next
- Keene State visits the University of Massachusetts-Boston (10-7, 1-2 LEC) on Saturday (October 14) at 1:00 p.m. for a Little East Conference match.
- Nichols goes to Endicott College (8-8, 3-0 CCC) for a league match on Thursday, October 12 (7:00 p.m.).
