BOSTON, Mass. – The No. 6 seeded Keene State College women's volleyball team hit below zero in two of three sets and compiled their worst hitting percentage in a match of the season, hitting .026, as they fell in the Little East Conference tournament quarterfinals to No. 3 seed University of Massachusetts-Boston in straight sets (13-25, 21-25, 10-25) on Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center.

The Beacons (19-8) hit at least .231 in every set including a .333 clip (17 kills, four errors) in an opening set they dominated, which set the tone for the evening as KSC (14-16) finished 4-8 in true road games.  It marks the second consecutive year the Owls saw their season end on the Beacons' home court, as they were also swept to end last season on the heels of their 2022 Little East championship, which included a 3-1 home semifinal win over UMB.

Despite the lopsided opening set, Keene State got off to a better start in the second, opening an 8-5 advantage on a kill by Stephanie Olah and an 11-9 edge on a swing from Marina Miller.  However, the Beacons took their first lead of the set (15-14) on an Audrey Cofield ace to force a KSC timeout and the Owls never led again.  They did tie it at 18 on consecutive attacking errors by UMass-Boston, but the Beacons responded with four out of the next five points to take a three-point lead and were not seriously threatened from there.  Olah made it 22-20 with a kill, but three spikes in a four-point span gave a commanding 2-0 match lead to the home team.  The Beacons were plus-13 in kills in the first and plus-5 in kills in the second.

A slow start by the Owls doomed the third set from the beginning, as Dylan Wertzberger's ace six points in forced a KSC timeout down 5-1, and later four more points in a row forced Jake Girard to burn his second stoppage with his team down 11-4.  A block by Molly Wetherbee stopped the bleeding for a fleeting moment before the Beacons rattled off a 6-0 burst to take an insurmountable 12-point lead, which grew to as high as 15 on the match-clinching point.

"UMass-Boston really came to play tonight.  They were great offensively," said Girard, just completing his first season with the Owls.  "In the first set we couldn't get off the ground from a passing and offensive standpoint.  In the second, we played much better but could not maintain to close it out."

"In the third set, I think the emotion of the playoffs and end of the season started hitting us and we checkout out early and could not catch back up."

Gigi Stake finished with seven kills to pace the Owls, hitting .143.  Olah had five kills while Wetherbee and Miller had three apiece.  Theresa Norris had 16 digs, but the Owls were minus-14 (66-52) in digs.

Paige Coulson had a standout night for the hosts, who advance to face the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the semifinals on the road Thursday night, recording 14 kills to just one error and attacking at a .448 clip.  Wertzberger added 10 kills (.360 pct.) and made just one miscue, while Mya Perron had nine kills, one error, and swung at a .267 clip.  That offensive trio combined for 33 kills, three errors, and hit .357.

UMB's .264 team attack percentage was their third highest mark of the season.  After falling behind 2-1 in sets to KSC in the regular season match, they combined to win the final five sets in a row and have beaten the Owls four straight times in the series, including three in straight sets, since losing both matches to Keene State in 2022.
The Owls will gear up for 2025, losing three seniors (Olah, Wetherbee, and Norris) to graduation.

The LEC tournament's top four seeds all remain alive, with No. 1 seed Plymouth State University (bye) to host fourth-seeded Western Connecticut State University, a 3-1 winner over Eastern Connecticut State University tonight, in the other semifinal.  Plymouth State currently leads the conference in NPI (the new NCAA Division III tournament selection metric) at 59, with UMass-Dartmouth at 71, UMass-Boston at 105, and Western Connecticut at 199.