Box Score

HENNIKER, N.H. – Gigi Stake led the way with 13 kills and Lauren Bender added six on .222 hitting as the Keene State College women's volleyball team posted a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-18, 25-22) of New England College in non-conference action Tuesday night at Bridges Gymnasium.

The Owls (12-12) were in control and pulled away toward the end in every set to improve to 8-4 in their last 12 matches.  In the first, after seeing NEC tie it three times after trailing by as many as five early, KSC used a 6-0 run that featured to aces by Ava Harkins to reassume a 21-14 lead.  Stake then fired down kills on three of the final four points of the set to give the Owls, coming off a surprising 3-0 loss at Rhode Island College on Saturday, a match lead.

Keene State scored five in a row early in the second to go up three and was still ahead 7-4 before the Pilgrims (8-16) rallied to take a 13-12 edge on Tyra Kelly's ace.  Kelly gave the ball right back to the Owls with a service error, Grace Christian followed with her own ace, and KSC never trailed again in the set – going on an 8-1 burst to lead 20-14, a run that culminated with another ace by Harkins and a kill by Katie Taylor.  KSC turned it into a 12-2 surge by scoring four more in a row to bring up set point at 24-15 and Stake again put an end to a victory in the frame with a kill.  New England College did not have another kill after Kelly found the ground to make it 12-12.

The third set was the tightest, with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until the Owls scored three straight (all on NEC miscues) to go up 17-14.  The Pilgrims rallied to tie it at 19, but two attacking errors and then a kill by Stake put them right back down three again, and despite getting within one they never fully recovered this time.  Ahead 22-21, Ashley Sarazin put down an important kill and Alexis Small followed with an ace to bring up match point.  Samantha Winters answered with a point for NEC, but Colleen Fraser sent down a pass from Small to give the Owls their fifth sweep of the season.

"It feels good to get the win after a tough match Saturday against RIC," said KSC head coach Jake Girard.  "We are at the point of the season where people are getting sick and some are injured – today we saw Ashley out there and she had a great second and third set.  Lauren Bender has been mixing into the lineup and she has also been hitting in the positive every game since she's been out there."

Stake finished with 13 kills on a .158 clip and added five digs while Fraser and Bender each had six kills.  Taylor had three kills on four attempts from the middle.  Harkins had 18 assists and three aces while Christian also had three aces.

"Gigi led the way with 13 points and our in-system hitting is great," added Girard.  "We have been trying to find ways to minimize errors out of system.  Once she can do that her hitting percentage will really jump up.  Katie three kills on four swings with no errors…we need to find ways to set our middles more."

Winters had seven kills and hit .278 for NEC, who was plus-18 in digs but was outhit .178 to .037.

Keene State returns to action at home on Friday for a Halloween night match against Mount Holyoke College (13-11, 4-5 NEWMAC) at 6:00 p.m.  The Lyons have their most conference wins in a season since 1994 and are eyeing their first NEWMAC playoff berth since 2006 after a five-set win over Smith College, ending a five-game losing streak in that series, tonight.