KEENE, N.H. – Senior middle blocker
Molly Wetherbee fired down 10 kills for the second consecutive match on just 17 total attempts, hitting .471, as the Keene State College women's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 26-24) sweep of Fitchburg State University in their home opener on Tuesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.
Since dropping the season opener to a Stevens Institute of Technology team that is receiving votes in the Top 25 poll, KSC (3-1) has ran off three wins in a row, hitting over .220 as a team in each of their last two matches.
Postgame Interview (Jake Girard)
Postgame Interview (Molly Wetherbee)
The Owls, coming off a season in which they went only 5-6 at home, never trailed in either of the opening two sets as they quickly asserted themselves to the tune of a 50-23 aggregate score in those first two frames. KSC opened the match with an 8-2 burst and later led 16-7 after reeling off six straight that included a pair of aces by
Sarah Bartels and kills by Wetherbee and
Marina Miller, their top two in that category thus far on the season. The Falcons never had any offensive answers on their end of things, as
Annaliese Rudberg blocked Stephanie Sardella for a 23-10 advantage before
Delia Ryan served an ace three points later for the set win.
The second set was hardly much different, as KSC opened with an 8-3 push and hit a match-high .450 (12 kills, 2 errors on 20 attempts) while Fitchburg was held to a negative clip for the second straight frame. The Falcons never got closer than four after that, as an 8-1 surge turned a 10-6 lead for the home team into an 18-7 gap that was as wide as the score indicated. Fitchburg scored two straight points just three times as they tumbled into a 2-0 match deficit, with first year Luci Santoli's kill pushing Keene State's lead to 20-9. The set did not last much longer than that, as kills by
Ashley Sarazin and
Gigi Stake surrounding an ace by
Grace Christian polished off a 25-12 win. KSC had a 10-4 edge in aces on the evening, and one year after being out-aced 299-193, they are so far plus seven (42-35) in that category.
Needing a massive comeback, the Falcons fought, turning a 20-14 deficit in the third set into a 24-24 tie, but never got over the hump, as a
Colleen Fraser kill and then an attack that went out of bounds ended the night.
Keene State outhit the Falcons .221 to -.011 on the night, paced by 10 kills and just two errors from Wetherbee, who is hitting .400 on the season through four matches. Bartels added six kills and Rudberg five on five tries.
Theresa Norris led the Owls in digs with 11 and
Alexis Small had 30 assists.
Samantha Mirra had seven of Fitchburg's 21 total kills and seven digs.
KSC is back in action this Saturday (September 7) when they travel to Bates College First Serve Classic. They take on the host Bobcats at 11:00 a.m. and Dean College at 1:00 p.m.
