WORCESTER, Mass. – Colleen Fraser and Annaliese Rudberg combined for 15 kills to just two errors on 36 attempts as the Keene State College women's volleyball team used a balanced attack to mostly cruise to a 3-1 victory over Worcester State University in non-conference action at Brissette Court Tuesday night.

The win is the Owls' (14-12) seventh in their last eight matches and moves them two games over .500 for the first time since winning the first two matches of the season.

A big part of their resurgence has been their offense and especially Fraser, who has 119 kills and has hit .210 while KSC has gone 10-4 since September 24.  The Owls are assured of a Little East Conference playoff berth and a road quarterfinal, with the result of Friday night's match against Western Connecticut State University determining whether KSC will be the No. 5 or No. 6 seed.  If the Owls take down the Wolves, they will be the No. 5 seed and travel to face No. 4 seed Eastern Connecticut State University.  A loss would leave them in sixth with a trip to either Plymouth State University, the University of Massachusetts-Boston, or a rematch with WestConn next Tuesday night.

Perhaps the other biggest story of this Tuesday night came thanks to four aces by Alexis Small, whose 76 this season are now within the top five on the program's all-time single-season list.  She has 45 over her last 12 matches, an average of nearly four per match.

KSC's serving today rang up 11 aces, and they also outhit the Lancers (9-19) .151 to .092 as they improved to 25-1 in the all-time series – the only loss coming on the road in 2004.

The Owls did not trail in two of the three sets they won – in the first and the fourth – and hardly trailed in the second in what was mostly a comfortable victory in their final non-conference regular season finale.  KSC opened a 9-4 advantage right away in the first on an ace by Ava Harkins and forced a Worcester timeout at 16-9 following swings from Marina Miller and Rudberg.  The home team got within four once, but KSC hit back with three straight and six of the next seven culminating with a kill by Small for a 24-15 edge and Sarah Bartels ended it two rallies later.

The Lancers had brief leads early in the second including at 9-7, but Miller had two aces in what turned into a 7-0 burst to put KSC up five quickly.  The Owls led all the way out from there to take a 2-0 match lead, as an ace from Small put KSC ahead 18-14.  Worcester State made things interesting with a push late – getting within one twice – but Katie Taylor responded with a kill and a Lancers' attacking error prevented the home team from tying and the Owls finished off a 25-21 set win to take firm control.

Worcester pushed it to four with a big run midway through the third, turning a 10-10 tie into a nine-point lead with a 12-3 run.  KSC scored four straight up against match point to get as close as 24-20, but Kaitlyn Anthony's kill prevented the Owls, who hit -.020 in the set, from getting any closer.

KSC got their offense back on track to close it out in the fourth, with Gigi Stake's kill and another Small ace setting the tone very early.  An ace by Harkins and kill by Miller gave the Owls a 9-4 advantage, and KSC led all the way despite Worcester trimming a 13-8 deficit to one three times, the last of which at 18-17.  But the home team never scored again, as the Owls closed with the final seven points including a block by Stake and Rudberg of Cassidy D'Esposito to end the match.

Five people had at least six kills for KSC, including Rudberg, who had seven on .462 hitting.  Stake also had seven while Bartels and Miller had six.  Harkins had 17 assists and Small 15, while Delia Ryan added 11 digs.

Reece Connors had a 12 kill, 12 assist, 10 dig triple-double to lead the Lancers, who fell to 3-4 at home – playing only their seventh home match.

"It was great to walk away with another victory, but this one was sloppy," said KSC head coach Jake Girard.  "We did not play our best and Worcester never makes it easy for us.  Last year we went to the fifth set and this year the fourth.  I think (Worcester State head coach) Bernie Chase does a great job with his team.  They always play hard and he makes adjustments, keeping them in every match.  On our side of the net, we had some great blocks from Katie Taylor and offensively Annaliese had a great night."

KSC will look to snap a three-game losing streak against WestConn (17-6, 4-3 LEC) on Friday night at 5:00 p.m. to close the regular season.  The Owls are 10-4 against the Wolves at Spaulding Gymnasium all-time.  WestConn has won five straight but is 5-5 in true road matches.