KEENE, N.H. – Senior Day at Spaulding Gymnasium turned into not only a showcase of the six-member class of 2027 but also of the depth of the Keene State College women's volleyball team this year, as the Owls got double-digit kills over the two matches combined from seven different people as they ran their winning streak to six, beating Rhode Island College 3-0 and Framingham State University 3-1 on Saturday to clinch a playoff spot and a top four seed in the Little East Conference.
The Owls, a season-high five games over .500 at 13-8 and now 5-2 in conference play, nailed down their playoff spot first with a convincing win over a RIC (9-11, 1-5 LEC) team that had taken two of the other top four teams in the conference to five sets including league-leading University of Massachusetts-Boston. Then, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth polished off a 3-0 sweep of Eastern Connecticut State University on the road to ensure the Owls will get at least one home playoff match when the conference tournament begins on November 10.
KSC will now play for seeding, with their lone remaining league regular season match a trip to eighth-place Western Connecticut State University on November 7. The Owls are two games behind UMass-Boston in the loss column and one game behind UMass-Dartmouth as well as a half game behind Plymouth State University. KSC beat Plymouth in four sets at home but fell to the other two, including to UMD in five on the road. Much of the final order in the standings will likely be determined by Plymouth, who travels to UMass-Dartmouth on October 30 and hosts UMass-Boston on November 7.
The Owls took command against the Anchorwomen early, winning the opening set 25-17 while never trailing.
Alexis Small had two straight aces as KSC scored the first four points, and later two straight kills by
Marina Miller made it 8-2. The visitors trimmed a seven-point deficit to as little as four at 18-14, but
Reece Connors fired down a kill to end the run and the Owls pulled away after leading 21-17 thanks to scoring the final four points – two on kills by Miller and two on
Shaunah Bracken aces.
Execution late helped KSC win each of the final two sets, including in the second when the Owls closed on a 6-1 run for a critical momentum swing. It seemed RIC had tilted things in their direction, rallying from a 15-12 deficit to take an 18-17 lead before Sarina Marines' kill had them become the first team to 20 with a one-point lead. Down 21-20, though, the Owls closed with a flourish, as two kills by
Colleen Fraser in a four-point span helped KSC get to set point with a 24-21 lead before Aliyah Evora's attacking error put the Owls up 2-0 in the match.
Rhode Island College controlled the vast majority of the third set and seemed in firm control when Daniella Escudero's ace sandwiched two KSC miscues to put the visitors in front 15-9, but the Owls kept things interesting by immediately scoring the next four in a row to get within two. The Anchorwomen answered, though, with a spike by Marines making it 17-14 before an Owl service error and Caroline Morrell ace made it 19-15. Andrayah Williams connected for a point to get RIC to 20 first again, but it again made no difference, as KSC ripped of six straight in a stirring run, tying it at 20 on an ace by Small before a pair of first years took over.
Bella Bacon and
Aiya Dottin stuffed Olivia Rollinson to put the Owls ahead and Dottin then fired down two kills in a row to give her team a 23-20 lead. RIC got within one twice, partly due to two KSC service errors, but
Sarah Bartels helped the Owls avoid extra points by firing one with velocity off the block and to the ground.
KSC outhit Rhode Island College .333 to .140 and improved to 14-2 all-time in Keene against the Anchorwomen. Bartels, Connors, and Bacon shared the team lead in kills with eight apiece and combined for .391 hitting while Miller and Dottin added six spikes. Small had 23 assists and three aces. Marines paced RIC with 12 kills, hitting .346.
Behind a 14-kill effort from Fraser and a 10-kill effort from
Lauren Bender to put an exclamation point on their Senior Days, the Owls ripped through the Rams (14-8) to extend the winning streak. KSC's three set victories came by a combined 28 points and the Owls built up a 60-37 advantage in kills, hitting .262. The Owls began the match with 18 kills to just five errors in the opening set and attacked at a whopping .556 clip (17 kills, two errors) in the fourth set to leave no doubt.
The Owls trailed 9-6 early in the first set but used a 14-2 bolt to quickly take a nine-point (20-11) lead and were never threatened, scoring five of the final six – three on kills by Bender – to close out a 25-15 victory. KSC had a hiccup, snapping a long streak of set victories in the second, as the Rams scored four of the final five points to deny the Owls after they got within 21-20. But any momentum for visitors was zapped nearly immediately, as Keene State sprinted out to a 10-1 lead in the third and led by ten 16 points in at 13-3 after swings by Fraser and Bacon. Framingham got as close as six after that, but Miller had a pair of kills in another string of six consecutive Owl points that made it 22-11 as KSC cruised.
The Owls more than doubled up the Rams early in the fourth, as points by Fraser and Dottin put the home team up 11-5. Natalie Reynolds, coming off a 20-kill effort in Framingham's five-set loss to Rhode Island College in the day's middle match, had one of her 12 (.167 pct.) on the day a short time later to help keep her team afloat at 13-9, but KSC answered with a 7-1 push that saw Miller fire down three more kills, Connors two, and Bracken serve an ace, to take a double-digit lead at 20-10. Bender, perhaps fittingly, punctuated the day with an ace to give KSC another victory.
Bender added a team-high 17 digs to her 10 kills for a double-double, while Fraser (14 kills, 10 digs) also had a double-double. Harkins had 23 assists and Small 21 while Bracken had 12 digs, three assists, and three aces.
Keene State has won seven of nine all-time against Framingham including all four matches at Spaulding Gymnasium.
The Owls play their last home regular season match on Thursday (October 29) when they welcome New England College (11-10, 4-5 GNAC) for a 6:00 p.m. start.
