KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's volleyball team hit a season-low .055 including a below zero effort in the opening set as they went on to a 3-0 (19-25, 20-25, 18-25) loss to the University of Massachusetts-Boston in Little East Conference action at Spaulding Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Postgame Interview (Coach Girard)
Coming off an important home win Wednesday and looking to conclude a tough stretch of conference games on a very positive note, the Owls (7-8, 2-2 LEC) started flat – falling behind 9-4 and eventually hitting -.086 in the opening set – and never got their offense on track, finishing with 28 kills and 22 errors (.055 pct.) to set a season-low hitting percentage.
KSC got as close as 11-10 in the first after falling into the early five-point deficit, but the Beacons (11-7, 3-0 LEC) answered by scored nine of the next 14 points to become the first team to 20 and were never seriously threatened.
It seemed the Owls were going to hit back with authority, as
Marina Miller fired down three kills and
Bella Bacon an ace as KSC scored the first four points of the second set and later led 9-2 after
Ava Harkins' ace followed by spikes from
Reece Connors and Miller. Miller and Bacon connected for consecutive points a short time later to keep the Owls in front 11-6, but the set went south rapidly from there, as Addie Blomgren had two kills and a block in a four-point span to help erase the visitors' deficit. Lily Russell's ace tied it and Blomgren followed with another swing to put the Beacons ahead for the first time – and they kept going, extending the surge to 10 straight points when Kaitlyn Leberstein made it 16-11. KSC trimmed the deficit to two (19-17) after
Aiya Dottin and
Colleen Fraser teamed up for a block on Adele Accelus, but two Boston kills and a KSC error prevented the Owls from getting any closer before they eventually fell into a 2-0 match hole with a 25-20 loss. The Owls were outscored 23-11 after leading 9-2.
Another major run helped UMass-Boston close out a road sweep, as they used a 7-0 burst on six kills and an ace to turn what had been an 8-5 deficit into a four-point, 12-8 lead. Kills by Fraser and Dottin ended the run and brought KSC within two, but Leberstein – who had three spikes in the first run – had two kills and an ace in the next one to give UMass-Boston a 16-11 advantage that was never substantially threatened. Connors and Bartels teamed up for a block on Paige Coulson before Bartels and Fraser kills made it 19-16, but KSC's hopes were essentially washed away when the Beacons scored the next four points.
The Owls' previous lowest hitting percentage of .066 came in a four-set loss at Rivier University. They have won just one game when hitting lower than .200 (Plymouth State Wednesday night).
Leberstein finished with 10 kills, eight assists, and six digs to pace UMass-Boston's offense while Blomgren had eight kills and four solo blocks (to go along with four block assists). Coulson had seven kills and 13 digs while Audrey Cofield had 20 assists and 10 digs.
Miller finished with seven kills and six digs for Keene State while Fraser added six spikes and Connors five. But the Owls were minus-11 (39-28) in kills and their 28 total is a season-low. KSC was also blocked 11 times.
Keene State has lost six straight in the series, though two of the last three had come in five sets.
The Owls travel to face Curry College (4-14, 0-5 CNE) on Wednesday, October 14 at 6:00 p.m. before visiting the University of Southern Maine on Saturday. The Colonels have lost 10 straight matches, falling to Western New England University in five sets today.
