CASTLETON, Vt. – Junior middle blocker Molly Wetherbee (Marblehead, Mass.) fired down a career-high 17 kills as the Keene State College women's volleyball team evaded Vermont State University Castleton 3-1 (25-23, 27-25, 23-25, 25-23) Wednesday night in Little East Conference action at Glenbrook Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  8-9, 2-1 LEC
• Vermont State Castleton:  4-8, 0-2 LEC

How It Happened
Squaring off against the team predicted to finish last in the conference's preseason coaches' poll, KSC was facing a possible need for a deciding fifth set as they trailed by as many as seven in the fourth, which would have erased what had been a 2-0 match lead.  The Owls' team hitting percentage was also declining as the night went on, with a .286 percentage in the opening frame dipping to .208, then to .122, then to .118.  Castleton, meanwhile, was keeping many rallies alive thanks to their 93 digs (15 more than KSC).  However, in the end – despite likely not being a masterpiece in the eyes of Keene State – the Owls closed the night with seven consecutive points and received double-digit kills from three different people to move over .500 in Little East Conference action for the first time in 2023.

Keene State won the first two sets by two points apiece, rallying from a deficit in each, before dropping the third when another comeback attempt came up short.  In the fourth, the Owls scored the first point but then allowed the next five and eventually were down 16-9 after consecutive attacking errors.  KSC rallied to get within two on an 8-3 burst that made it 19-17, but seemed in major trouble when the Spartans scored four of five and went up 23-18 on a kill from Jocelyn Ray, forcing an timeout from Owls head coach Bob Weiner.  Castleton seemed poised for a second consecutive set win over KSC after recording their first-ever in the series in the third, but it was not to be, as Wetherbee's kill began a 7-0 closing run to help the Owls escape.  Theresa Norris had a pair of aces to bring KSC within one, and the Owls took their first lead since it was 1-0 at 24-23 when Veronica Kroha and Jessica Timothy blocked Ray.  Norris then dialed up her third ace in a five-point span to wrap up the match.

Despite allowing the Spartans to hit .320 in the first set, the Owls seemed in control of the match after completing a comeback from 19-11 down in the second to win 27-25 and then opened a 9-3 advantage in the third set.  However, Castleton rallied to take a 14-13 lead and later went up 20-16 on back-to-back aces from Caitlin Mahoney.  Keene State was within one three times after, but after getting points from Timothy and Gigi Stake, Vanessa Lebrun gave Castleton the set.

The Owls built a 2-0 match lead mostly on the strength of 33 kills in the first two sets, including 17 in the opening set.  Two consecutive aces from Sarah Bartels had KSC up 8-4 in the first frame, and it was still a 15-11 edge after Kroha's swing from Alexis Small.  However, Castleton scored six straight to take the lead and was leading 22-21 after a kill from Maddie Delsignore.  KSC broke away from a 23-23 tie on swings from Kroha and Timothy for a grind-it-out win in the first set, which is much of what the match became at the end of the night.

"Castleton is considerably better than they've ever been, and that was coupled by us having easily our worst night this season," said Weiner.  "I'd like to say we did it with skill, but honestly we were lucky."

Wetherbee's 17 kills came on .500 hitting (30 attempts), and she added three block assists and two digs.  Timothy added 14 kills (.118 pct.) and Stake 12 (.237 pct).  Small had 48 assists and seven digs.

Lebrun paced Castleton with 17 kills and hit .302, while Madison Sheehan had 10 kills on a .241 attacking clip.

Service Aces

• Wetherbee has racked up 35 kills over the last three matches, hitting at least .350 in each one.
• KSC outhit the Spartans .181 to .147, but saw Castleton pile up 93 digs – 24 each from Hailey Martinovich and Lebrun.
• The Owls are 6-0 against VTSU Castleton, including 4-0 at Glenbrook Gymnasium.  KSC's third set loss to the Spartans snapped a string of 17 consecutive sets won head-to-head.

Up Next

• Keene State returns home to host the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (10-6, 2-0 LEC) on Saturday, October 7 at 1:00 p.m. in a key Little East Conference match.
• Castleton welcomes Eastern Connecticut State University (9-6, 2-1 LEC) on the same day (1:00 p.m.).