NORTON, Mass. – Gordon College used a 10-1 run to turn a 17-14 fourth set deficit into match point for themselves and went on to post a 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19) victory over the Keene State College women's volleyball team in the Owls' opener of a tri-match on Saturday at Wheaton College's Emerson Gymnasium.  KSC would then be swept by the host Lyons 25-19, 25-17, 25-14 to end the day.

The Owls (4-8) have dropped three in a row and eight of their last 10 as the conference opener looms this coming Friday, while Gordon moved to 10-4 and Wheaton 6-6 on the day.

The biggest highlight and most momentum KSC was able to generate came against Gordon when they erased deficits of 16-12 and 19-16 in the third set to force a fourth, scoring five points in a row to flip a 20-18 deficit into a three-point lead.  A block by Sarah Bartels and Annaliese Rudberg gave the Owls their first lead since it was 7-6 and kill by Bartels – who had an effective match with nine spikes on .318 hitting – brought the Owls to set point at 24-21, which Alexis Small ended two rallies later.

Keene State continued to battle in the fourth, taking an early 8-5 edge on three straight points that included two kills and a block.  Gordon nudged in front at 13-12 after an ace, but the Owls seemed like they might be on their way to forcing a fifth set after they answered by scoring five of the next six to go back up three (17-14).  The Fighting Scots turned the tables quickly, however, as a bad set by the Owls gave them the serve back and they then recorded two aces in a row to tie it.  Two KSC attacking errors consecutively after that made it 19-17 Gordon, and the Owls never scored consecutive points again, overall getting outscored 11-2 down the stretch to fall in four.

KSC hit just .050 while being swept by Wheaton in the ensuing match, allowing major runs to decide all three sets.  The opening frame saw the Lyons surge out to a 13-6 lead before the Owls clawed back within 17-15 on consecutive blocks and an ace as part of a run of four consecutive points.  However, the home team answered with five points in a row of their own to go back in front by seven and had no trouble from there.

The Owls broke out to a 4-1 lead in the second and still nursed a 14-11 advantage after a block by Rudberg and Colleen Fraser followed by an ace by Gigi Stake, only for Wheaton to run off eight of the next nine to surge in front by four.  The Lyons ultimately closed on an 11-2 run after their final deficit (15-14) to take a commanding 2-0 set lead.
KSC never led in the third, surrendering eight of the first 10 points and calling an early timeout, and never got closer than four after that in an eventual 25-14 set loss that closed their day.  The Owls recorded just three kills and made four attacking errors in that frame, and overall never got the offense going against the Lyons, managing just 18 kills in the match.  Wheaton, meanwhile, hit over .200 in every set and .242 overall.  KSC finished at .050, and was also minus-nine (11-2) in aces.  The Owls have hit below .100 in seven of 12 matches this season and are allowing opponents a .180 clip.

"We weren't ready to play off the bus and started slow against two good teams," said KSC head coach Jake Girard.  "Gordon's outsides (Annie Zimmerman and Haley Hutzler) were awesome.  Then Wheaton played at a pace we weren't used to."

Zimmerman and Hutzler combined for a whopping 32 kills for the Fighting Scots, six shy of KSC's output.  Zimmerman finished with 18 on .405 hitting and Hutzler had 14 spikes at a .323 clip.  Maria Clarabuch was also in double-digits for kills.

Bartels and Marina Miller led the way for KSC against the Fighting Scots with nine kills apiece.

Keene State fell in five sets to both oppositions today in a tri-match last year held at Gordon's Bennett Center in Wenham.

The Owls travel to Colby-Sawyer College (3-6, 2-0 GNAC) on Tuesday (September 23) at 7:00 p.m. before opening their LEC schedule at home against Eastern Connecticut State University on Friday night.