KEENE, N.H. – At the end of his recorded remarks played on the Spaulding Gymnasium video board on Senior Day, former Keene State College women's volleyball head coach Bob Weiner asked the three seniors and all the rest of the Owls to "go win this match."  KSC followed through, and because of it clinched a berth in the Little East Conference tournament by beating Rhode Island College 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21) in the opener of a tri-match on Saturday.  The Owls also beat New England College by the same score (22-25, 25-12, 26-24, 25-15) to close the day, winning their third straight.

The stakes of the match against the Anchorwomen were the same for both teams: the winner clinched an LEC tournament spot and the loser was out.  It became a best-of-three when the teams split the first two sets, with Rhode Island College's narrow 25-23 second set win answering the Owls' 25-17 win in the opener.

KSC would find themselves trailing 19-17 late in a swing third set, but finished with a flourish, scoring the final eight in a row to reclaim the match lead.  An ace by Alexis Small put the Owls up 21-19 and forced a RIC timeout, though that did not slow KSC's momentum, as Stephanie Olah followed with a kill.  Sarah Bartels swung for one of her own to bring up set point at 24-19, and another ace from Small wrapped up what turned out to be a critical set.

Leading 2-1 in the match, the Owls again saved their best for when it was needed most to win the fourth set.  A kill by Andrayah Williams gave the Anchorwomen a 13-9 edge midway through, with KSC already having burned a timeout after a very early 5-3 lead turned into a 9-6 deficit.  Gigi Stake, who had 14 kills without an error and hit .368 in the match overall, proved to be the finisher on this day.  The KSC junior and Bedford, N.H. native racked up six of her seven kills in the fourth set after it was tied at 17, the first two of which forced the Anchorwomen into a timeout and gave the Owls the lead for good.  Ahead 21-18, Stake put the Owls up five with two straight swings and yet another three points later brought up match point at 24-20.  RIC staved off elimination only once before Small set up Stake to end the match.

KSC hit .214 in the fourth set, their second most effective of the day behind a .257 showing in the first when they closed on a 15-7 burst after the teams split the first 20 points at 10 apiece.

Defensively, behind four with double-digit digs including a match-high 27 by senior Theresa Norris, the Owls held the Anchorwomen to .079 attacking overall.
Molly Wetherbee added 13 kills while Marina Miller finished with eight and Annaliese Rudberg six.

Wetherbee, Olah, and Norris were all honored as part of a pregame ceremony prior to the match.

KSC's win ensured another LEC tournament appearance; they have made the conference playoffs in every season since 2001, including league titles in 2008 and 2022.
The Owls (13-15) picked up their third straight win to close the day as they rebounded from an opening set lost to mostly handle New England College (10-16) with ease, outscoring the Pilgrims 76-51 over the final three frames.  KSC attacked at .382 or better in three of the four sets and racked up a 62-40 advantage in kills in the process, though it was a wild third set that might have changed the tenor of the match.  NEC opened a 20-17 lead when Tatiana Sampson and Jamie Henson blocked Stake following a timeout, but KSC surged from there by scoring seven of the next eight to bring up set point following a kill by Bartels.  The Pilgrims fought back and threatened to take an improbable 2-1 match lead after scoring three in a row to force extra points, but Bartels' kill and a bad set helped KSC escape despite hitting only .069.

The Owls ran away with the fourth set, taking a 14-5 lead and forcing the visitors to burn both timeouts in that span.  The Pilgrims never got closer than seven after that, and KSC took a double-digit lead on consecutive kills by Rudberg that made it 23-13.  Stake, who had 32 kills on the day and 41 kills to just six errors in three matches on the week, fittingly ended the match with another spike.

Lily-Anne Heywood paced NEC with 10 kills, but the Pilgrims dropped their sixth match in the last eight outings after also being swept by RIC 3-0 (21-25, 24-26, 14-25) in the day's middle match.

KSC is back in action on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. when they close the home portion of their schedule against Worcester State University (8-16, 4-2 MASCAC).  The Owls are 5-3 at Spaulding Gymnasium in 2024.