SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – First year outside hitter Marina Miller racked up a match-high tying eight kills and hit .263 in her first collegiate match, but it was not enough as the Keene State College women's volleyball team could not slow down the Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday night at the Springfield College Dearing Classic, falling 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-19) at Blake Arena in the season-opener for both teams.

The Ducks (1-0), who were a second round NCAA tournament team from a year ago and receiving votes in the Top 25 preseason poll, hit .192 in the opening set and held the Owls to a negative (-.034) percentage in the opening set to take a lead and then swung at a whopping .429 clip in the second set to nullify KSC's .333 percentage as they played from ahead for most of the time.  The Owls slowed down Stevens' offense some in what turned out to be the final frame, limiting them to just nine kills and seven errors (.069 pct.), but their offense sunk below .000 again as they suffered a defeat in the first career game for new head coach Jacob Girard.

The match may have swung when the Owls could not finish off a first set turnaround, as they rebounded from a 4-1 deficit to take a 9-7 edge after getting three kills in a four-rally span.  Stevens nudged out in front by two later (15-13), but Molly Wetherbee fired down a pair of kills thereafter to help force a 16-16 tie.  Consecutive blocks by Vivian Lisboa and Elle Maggio put the Ducks back up two, but this time the Owls did not respond, as it ballooned to a 6-0 burst for a 22-16 lead and Stevens wound up scoring nine of the final 10 points.

It was a very slow start in the second frame for KSC, who trailed 11-4 and 13-6 before chipping the deficit down to 15-12 with a 6-2 run.  However, they could not get over the hump, getting within four five times – the last of which came at 22-18 – before the Ducks took a 2-0 lead with three straight to end the frame on a block, a kill, and an ace.
Stevens doubled up the Owls 8-4 over the opening 12 points of the third, but KSC ran off a 7-1 spurt on two swings by Miller and one from Wetherbee to rebound for an 11-9 lead.  Another big Ducks surge, however, swung momentum their way once more and it began with three straight KSC miscues as their 12-10 lead disappeared and wound up turning into allowing 10 consecutive points to trail by eight.  The Owls never got closer than five again, the final time coming at 24-19 before Lisboa ended the match with her eighth kill to tie the match-high that Miller set.

Keene State struggled to control serves, as Stevens racked up 16 aces and KSC just four.  Lisboa swung at a .462 clip and she added seven block assists.  The Ducks featured a balanced attack, with nine different players recording kills.

Wetherbee added six kills on 13 swings for the Owls, while Theresa Norris paced the team in digs with 14.  Alexis Small finished with 19 assists.

"We played a strong Stevens team and were close in all three sets but unfortunately came up short," said KSC head coach Jacob Girard.  "We played with high effort and intensity every single point."

"I am excited because we have a great starting point so I can't wait to see how far we can go once we develop just a bit more."

Miller and Delia Ryan each made their KSC debuts in the match.

The Owls are back at it on Saturday (August 31) in Springfield with a pair of matches as they take on Westfield State University at 12:30 p.m. and Rivier University at 3:00 p.m.