KEENE, N.H. – Marina Miller matched a game-high 16 kills and the Keene State College women's volleyball team rallied for a 2-1 sets lead after dropping the opener, but the University of Massachusetts-Boston used a commanding win in the fourth frame to gain momentum and defeated the Owls 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 22-25, 25-11, 15-9) in a Little East Conference match Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Postgame Interview (Jake Girard)

KSC (9-13, 1-4 LEC) had a productive attack in the second and third frames to surge in front, combining for 32 kills, but they had just 19 total in the other three lost sets and were outhit .157 to .096 overall.  In the decisive fifth frame, the Owls had just three kills and made five errors.  Despite that, they did take a 7-6 advantage on a swing by Miller.  However, the Beacons (11-8, 2-2 LEC) got three straight kills from Lauren Westlund as part of a 5-0 run to take a four-point lead and force a KSC timeout.  The Owls only scored two more points after that, both on UMB attacking errors, and were outscored 4-1 down the stretch.

The match featured a remarkable 44 ties and 17 lead changes, but flipped in a jarring way in the fourth set as UMass-Boston tallied eight consecutive points to turn a 3-2 deficit into a seven-point lead that was never threatened.  KSC made it 12-7 on a block by Molly Wetherbee, but the Beacons scored six of the next eight to double up the Owls 18-9.  The visitors took a double-digit lead on an ace by Dylan Wertzberger and closed out a 25-11 set win to tie the match by scoring the final six points.

It was a disappointing end for Keene State after they broke away from 19-19 and 22-22 deadlocks to take the second frame 25-23 and followed that up by rallying from 11-6 and 16-12 deficits to win the third, closing on a 13-6 surge that featured four kills by Stephanie Olah.  Annaliese Rudberg also made a big impact in her return to the lineup in the middle, including a set-clinching kill.  She had three spikes and a block in the third set alone, finishing with nine kills, three blocks, and two block assists.

Mya Perron led the Beacons with 16 kills and hit .227 while Wertzberger had 11 kills.  Mary Matthews paced UMB with 21 digs and Amelia Devlin had 44 assists.

Gigi Stake finished with eight kills for KSC, while Olah and Wetherbee each had seven.  Stake added 18 digs and Theresa Norris 15, while Alexis Small had 40 assists.  The Owls allowed 13 aces and could not overcome 34 attacking errors.  UMass-Boston had a whopping seven aces while dominating the tenor-changing fourth set.

Keene State, in a battle for an LEC tournament spot, hosts Plymouth State University on Wednesday night (October 23) at 7:00 p.m.