KEENE, N.H. – University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth junior hitter Chelsea Sanker (Pearland, Texas) compiled 15 kills on .364 hitting while the Keene State College women's volleyball team attacked at only a .086 clip, and as a result the Corsairs swept the Owls 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-18) in a Little East Conference match Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  8-10, 2-2 LEC
• UMass-Dartmouth:  11-6, 3-0 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Weiner)

How It Happened
Facing a team they downed in five sets on the road last year as part of their October surge, KSC could not channel the same momentum, as after scoring five of the first seven points of the match, the Corsairs called an immediate timeout, scored eight straight, and more or less never looked back as they won for only the third time ever in Keene.  Beyond Sanker, Kate Wade finished with 14 kills (.171 pct.) and Emily Pogorelec 35 digs.  Skye Peters added 21 assists and Sabrina Bordone 18 as UMD extended their winning streak to four and improved to 3-3 on the road.  The Corsairs have won all 12 sets in that span since being pummeled by Emerson College on September 23, including hitting .298 and .290 in their last two conference victories.  They only attacked at a .164 clip against KSC, but the Owls received nine kills apiece from Gigi Stake (.079 pct.) and Molly Wetherbee (.292 pct.) and 12 combined from everybody else.

After falling behind 10-5 while surrendering the aforementioned run in the opening set, the closest KSC got after that was 12-10, and after that they watched UMass-Dartmouth tack on a brief 5-1 burst that made it 17-11.  Two straight kills from Wade kept her team in front 21-15, and after the Owls got those two points back, made consecutive attacking errors (one as a result of a block) to fall behind by six.  It happened again moments later as Bartels and Wetherbee made it 23-19, but two more miscues put UMass-Dartmouth ahead in the match.

Sanker made her presence known in the second set right from the jump, scoring the first two points, and wound up racking up nine kills in that frame alone, helping nullify Keene State's .225 attacking percentage as a team (they hit .019 and .043 in the other two sets).  The Owls never led, as UMD after holding a 5-4 edge posted five in a row for a quick six-point lead that was never substantially threatened.  Two straight kills from Stake made it 10-7, but two errors by KSC was the beginning of a 5-1 push by the Corsairs to open a 15-8 advantage.  The Owls scored five of seven to turn a 19-12 deficit into a 21-17 hole, but did not have enough, as swings from Gabriella Monico and Sanker made it a five-point lead (23-18) and UMD closed the set from there, scoring points at every critical time they were needed.

That continued in the third set – a must-win for KSC – as after trailing by two three different times, the last of which at 15-13, UMass-Dartmouth ran off five in a row to take an 18-15 lead on two kills from Monico, one from Devon Laing, and an ace by Wade.  Alexis Small made it 19-17 with a swing of her own, but it did not generate any momentum in the end, as Laing's kill and a block began another run of five straight points for UMD that brought up match point, which they wrapped up two rallies later on a kill by Sanker.  Small's kill that brought KSC within two was their only kill over the final 17 points in the match.

Service Aces

• The Owls are currently hitting .137 as a team, 32 points lower than last season's .169 mark.
• Wetherbee has 44 kills over the last four matches.
• The match featured only six service aces and seven service errors between the two teams combined.
• KSC leads the all-time series 21-9, but has lost the last two regular season matches against the Corsairs at Spaulding Gymnasium.  Prior to that, UMD had not won in Keene since 2004.  That was the last – and only – time they won in a sweep here before today.
• The Owls are currently fifth in the Little East standings halfway through their conference schedule.

Up Next

• Keene State visits Nichols College (10-5, 0-2 CCC) for the first ever meeting between the two sides on Tuesday, October 10 for a 7:00 p.m. start.
• UMass-Dartmouth goes to Rhode Island College (6-8, 1-3 LEC) for a conference match that begins at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday (October 11).  The Corsairs and Plymouth State University are the only remaining teams without a conference loss.