PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Keene State College women's volleyball team hit below zero in a match for the first time in five years and had their worst hitting percentage in a match in six years as they lost 3-0 (25-6, 25-5, 25-21) to Plymouth State University in a Little East Conference match at Foley Gymnasium Wednesday night.

Records

• Keene State:  8-13, 2-4 LEC
• Plymouth State:  16-2, 2-0 LEC

How It Happened
A conference title game rematch turned into a meeting of two teams going in opposite directions, as the Owls fell to 2-7 on the road and 2-4 in conference action while the Panthers won for the 14th straight time and are 7-0 on their home court since losing to KSC in the league championship game last season in five sets.  Keene State now is just focused on turning around their season after managing three kills and 10 errors (-.226 pct.) and four kills and nine errors (-.192 pct.) in the first two sets, respectively.  The outputs resulted in a -.059 attacking percentage as a team in the match, their worst since 2017.

The Owls allowed six of the opening seven points of the match, and it never got better from there, as PSU forced KSC's first timeout at 10-3 following an ace.  An attacking error gave the Owls a point right out of the stoppage, but the Panthers ran off seven more in a row to make it 17-4, and after a serving error, scored seven more in a row to bring up set point with a 19-point lead.  They closed that set on the second try – KSC's most lopsided of the season.  It seemed that would be the nadir of the match for the Owls, but after scoring the first point of the second on a PSU error, they surrendered 20 consecutive points.  In the first 52 rallies of the match, Keene State had a team total of three kills.  The Panthers waltzed to a 2-0 match lead by winning the second 25-5, at one point leading 24-3 before two Molly Wetherbee kills.

Facing a deep hole, Keene State battled in the third set, as after allowing five straight to fall behind 6-2 and later facing a 12-5 deficit, outscored Plymouth 13-7 to get within one at 19-18 following two kills from Gigi Stake and ace by Sarah Bartels.  The Panthers called a timeout and were able to stave off KSC by scoring two in a row, both from Nora Ryan (one on a kill and one on an ace).  The Owls made it a two-point difference three more times after that, the last of which at 23-21, but Lilli Stogner fired down two kills to finish off KSC.

The match was drastically different than the last meeting between the teams when they were playing for an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.  KSC dropped the first set in the LEC championship a year ago and was staring at a two-set deficit after trailing 23-12 in the second, but came roaring back to tie it.  They were also up against the wall in the fourth after dropping the third, but forced a deciding fifth frame and scored 10 of the first 11 to help clinch their second tournament title.

Plymouth's only two losses against conference teams came against KSC last year, as the Owls swept them 3-0 in Keene in late September.

This year, the Owls were the ones being swept.

"You hit below zero and you aren't going to win any LEC matches," said Keene State head coach Bob Weiner.  "Back to the drawing board.  We need the next two matches to qualify for the tournament.  In my 19 years we have qualified every year.  It's a challenge, but we are up for it."

Molly Wetherbee had five kills (.118 pct.) to lead KSC while Veronica Kroha, Stake, and Stephanie Olah all had four.  The Owls had 19 total spikes as a team and 25 attacking errors.

Plymouth, which hit .329 and made only six miscues attacking, had eight kills (and no errors) from Lindsey Sanderson (.615 pct.), Stogner (.368 pct.), and Ryan (.412 pct.).  The Panthers also had 13 aces (Keene three) and out-blocked the Owls 12-0.

Service Aces

• KSC has lost three out of four in Plymouth.  The Owls lead the all-time series 24-19.
• Keene State's previous worst attacking percentage of the season had been .012 at then-No. 13 Massachusetts Institute of Technology on September 9.
• Plymouth and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth remain the only undefeated teams in the league and play each other on the final day of the regular season at PSU.  For the Owls, who currently sit in a seventh-place tie with Rhode Island College at 2-4, they are very likely looking at a road quarterfinal game if they qualify for the tournament.

Up Next

• Keene State returns home for a tri-match on Senior Day against the University of Southern Maine (4-17, 0-5 LEC) and Wellesley College (8-10, 2-6 NEWMAC) on Saturday, October 21 at 12:00 and 4:00 p.m., respectively.
• Plymouth State goes to Eastern Connecticut State University (10-9, 2-2 LEC) for a tri-match with the host Warriors and Suffolk University (14-8, 4-1 CCC) on the same day (12:00/2:00 p.m.).