GORHAM, Maine – Senior Stephanie Olah piled up 12 kills while attacking at a .455 clip as the Keene State College women's volleyball team punctuated a Little East Conference win over the University of Southern Maine by racking up 19 kills and hitting .486 in the third and final set as they swept the Huskies 25-16, 25-15, 25-14 at Hill Gymnasium on Saturday.  The Owls fell in a non-conference matchup against Maine Maritime Academy in straight sets (26-24, 25-12, 25-15) to close out the tri-match.

KSC's (10-15) win over last-place USM sets up a critical conference match next Saturday at Spaulding Gymnasium when the Owls take on Rhode Island College on Senior Day.  Keene State can clinch the No. 6 seed and an LEC tournament berth with a win but is eliminated from tournament contention if they lose.  The Owls have beaten RIC five straight times and in 12 of 14 overall at home and will need to do so again to avoid missing the LEC tournament for the first time since 2001.

This scenario came to be thanks to an easy win over struggling USM (5-20, 0-6 LEC), who has lost six straight and is 4-10 at home.  Through the first two sets, the Huskies combined for just seven kills and 18 errors, and then it was the Owl offense who shredded them in the third set to finish off the sweep.

All three sets started somewhat slowly for KSC, as they led only 8-7 after a Huskies block in the opener, trailed 9-5 in the second, and trailed 5-4 in the third.  However, in all three cases, they assumed control forcefully from there.  In the first, the Owls used a 7-2 burst to turn the aforementioned one-point advantage into a 15-9 lead on a kill and an ace by Gigi Stake.  The Huskies never seriously threatened from there, with KSC scoring five straight for a double-digit lead (24-14) that brought up set point before Madison Zimmer served into the net to put KSC ahead in the match.  Olah and Stake each had a pair of kills in that span.

After an early Jake Girard timeout trailing by four in the second, Keene State eventually sprung to life, flipping an 11-7 deficit into a 15-11 lead with eight consecutive points (six kills and an ace).  A service error ended the run, but then came another, as KSC closed on a 10-3 push to take a 2-0 match lead.

Three straight kills from Molly Wetherbee helped the Owls push a one-point edge to 10-6 early in the third set, and KSC cruised after that, going up 16-8 after another run of four straight points that featured two kills by Marina Miller and one by Olah.  The visitors went up double-figures (21-11) after swings by Olah and Wetherbee on back-to-back points, and had no trouble from there, getting a pair of kills from Miller to put an end to a 25-14 match-clinching victory.

KSC outhit the Huskies .229 to -.029 and had a 43-18 edge in kills.  USM was deep into negative territory through two sets, but finished with 11 kills to only three errors in the third to get closer to zero.  However, they could not slow the Owl offense as the day went on as KSC finished with 34 kills to just 10 miscues over the final two sets after hitting .026 in the opener.

Keene State had three reach double-digits in kills, paced by Olah.  Stake had 11 kills (.194 pct.) and eight digs while Miller had 10 kills (.231 pct.) and 13 digs.  Theresa Norris had a match-high 17 digs.

Ella Koehler (.160 pct.) and Anyelis Hernandez (.000 pct.) paced Southern Maine's attack with five kills apiece.  The loss eliminated the Huskies from LEC tournament contention with two league matches to go.

"Great playing from Steph and Theresa really showed some senior leadership on the court today to get it done against Southern Maine," said KSC head coach Jacob Girard.  "They know how important these conference matches are and they really went hard after every point."

The Owls have won five straight and 22 of 28 all-time against USM.

KSC dropped the second match of the day to Maine Maritime (13-9) in just the third-ever meeting between the two sides (the Owls had won the first two).  The Owls warded off set point four consecutive times in the opening set to force a 24-24 tie before allowing the final two points, and it went downhill from there, as the Mariners outscored the Owls 50-27 over the final two frames.  KSC never led in either of the final two sets and could not overcome attacking at a .072 clip in the match.  The Owls were minus-17 in kills and surrendered a whopping 19 aces (five apiece from Ally Hadley and Sydney Williams) in the loss.

 The Mariners sprinted out to a 5-0 lead in the second set and after KSC got within 6-4, ran off seven more in a row to go up nine.  The Owls never seriously threatened again, with Maine Maritime taking a 19-9 lead on a kill by Williams in an eventual 13-point set win (25-12).  It was another massive run that spelt the end for KSC, as after an Alexis Small kill made it 11-10 midway through the third, Maine Maritime scored nine straight points to turn it into a runaway.  Williams finished off a 25-15 third set win and the Owls' day with her match-best 12th kill, hitting .526.  She also had 18 digs.  Hadley added 10 kills and also hit .526, remaining errorless on 19 attempts.

KSC was outhit .245 to .072.  Wetherbee had six kills on .417 attacking while Small had five kills on eight total attempts, but those two outputs represented 55 percent of the Owls' kill output.

The Mariners swept USM 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-23) to conclude the tri-match.

Keene State is back in action this Thursday, on Halloween, when they travel to Mount Holyoke College (11-9, 2-6 NEWMAC) at 7:00 p.m.  Southern Maine visits Western Connecticut State University for a tri-match next Saturday (November 2) that also features William Paterson University, while Maine Maritime entertains Husson University on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. for a NAC matchup.