GORHAM, Maine – A week where the Keene State College women's volleyball team entered it looking to build confidence and aid their depth ended with seemingly both tasks accomplished, as the Owls had no major trouble winning six consecutive sets on Saturday, sweeping the University of Southern Maine (25-17, 25-15, 25-21) in a Little East Conference match and the University of Maine-Fort Kent (25-10, 25-11, 25-19) at the Hill Gymnasium on USM's campus.
KSC (10-8, 3-2 LEC) moved back over .500 for the first time since they were 6-5 on September 26 and had no trouble dispatching the last place Huskies (4-15, 0-4 LEC), setting the tone with a blistering 15-3 run right out of the gates in the first set and never trailing in either of the first two frames while taking a 2-0 match lead. KSC outhit USM .289 to .153 overall in the match and limited the home team to just 14 kills and nine errors in their comfortable victories in the first and second sets. The Owls fired down four consecutive kills early in the second to take a 5-0 lead and eventually used a 12-2 burst midway through the frame to go in front 23-12 after Southern Maine twice got as close as one at 11-10.
Shaunah Bracken had three aces in the uprising while
Alexis Small and
Bella Bacon each had one. Bracken finished with six of the Owls' 12 on the afternoon.
The Huskies took their first lead in the third facing a deep hole in the match, eventually opening a 9-6 advantage on a block by Haylie Bidegain and Taylor Joyal. It was 10-7 USM when KSC took over, scoring six straight culminating with another Bracken ace to go up three. Southern Maine answered with three in a row to tie it, but
Sarah Bartels, Miller, and
Colleen Fraser all had kills over the next four points to put the Owls ahead by four. KSC never trailed again, ballooning their lead to seven (23-16) with another 6-1 run as they rolled along to a sweep and their 24th victory over the Huskies in 30 all-time meetings. Southern Maine's only two home wins against KSC came in 2018 and 2003.
Keene State featured a balanced attack in their fifth conference match of eight on the season, with Bartels connecting for nine kills on .350 hitting to lead the way. Fraser had eight kills without an error and swung at a .500 clip while
Reece Connors and
Marina Miller also had eight spikes. Small had 15 assists and
Ava Harkins 12 while Bracken had 11 digs.
Anyelis Hernandez led Southern Maine with 11 kills (.381 pct.), though that represented 44 percent of their offensive total.
The Owls avoided any letdown in the day's second match, outscoring Maine-Fort Kent (1-12) by a combined 29 points in the first two sets. KSC again made a forceful statement early, forging out to leads of 11-4 and 16-6 quickly against the USCAA's Bengals. UMFK scored consecutive points just once in the opening set – a 25-10 Owls win – and overall hit well below zero (-.036) on the afternoon while the Owls connected at a .316 clip including .481 in the first set.
Despite falling into a 7-2 deficit quickly in the second, Fort Kent hung around slightly longer, getting within two on two different occasions. But the avalanche came shortly thereafter, as after a Kimberly Lucas service ace made it 12-10, the Owls allowed just one more point in the set to finish on a 13-1 burst with
Lauren Bender compiling five of her team and career-high 13 spikes in that span. She hit .393 and finished with a double-double, adding 10 digs on the afternoon. Able to get different combinations ample playing time, KSC head coach Jake Girard also saw rookie
Claire Jorgensen pile up six kills while
Jess Sibenik and
Clover Beebe each had four.
The Owls had 28 kills and made just four miscues while building their commanding match lead. The Bengals played from ahead early in the third looking to avoid being swept, but KSC eventually asserted themselves, using an 12-4 run to flip a one-point deficit into a seven-point lead late and Maine-Fort Kent never recovered after that.
Small and Harkins paced KSC with 13 assists apiece, while the Bengals had 13 assists total as a team.
Lillian Rose led UMFK with seven kills but needed 36 swings to get to that number.
"It feels great to take care of business today with the two 3-0 victories," said Girard. "Honestly everyone just did their job today…good serving runs and then an efficient offense."
The Owls return home for four straight at Spaulding Gymnasium including a tri-match next weekend, with this homestand marking the final action at home in the regular season before KSC closes with four on the road. KSC will take on Vermont State University Castleton (6-9, 0-4 LEC) on Wednesday (October 21) at 6:00 p.m. The Spartans have lost five straight, getting swept 25-18, 25-15, 25-10 at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in league action today.
