Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Although Saturday (and Halloween) represented a split of a pair of matches, and of six sets overall, for the Keene State College women's volleyball team, it might have represented an even bigger chance to learn and grow as a team mixing in plenty of youth with the postseason looming now just over a week away.  The learning came in the form of a matchup against now 24-4 and receiving votes in the Top 25 poll Smith College in which the Owls battled in each set into the later stages before falling in each 25-19, 25-17, 25-22 at Ainsworth Gymnasium.  KSC bounced back to coast to their second sweep of Westfield State University this season, blowing past the (fellow) Owls 25-21, 25-10, and 25-18.

In the day's opening match, Keene State (15-9) saw their seven-match winning streak snapped by a Pioneers team – now 12-2 at home – that has been in the Top 25 and is highly-rated (top 10) by the NCAA Power Index (NPI).  The Owls hit a respectable .141 and saw middles Reece Connors and Aiya Dottin, one sophomore and one first year respectively, combine for 13 kills, but ultimately could not slow down Smith's offense enough to steal sets even though they were stealable late, as the Pioneers hit a remarkable .448 and made just eight errors while firing down 47 kills (KSC had 27 kills and 16 errors).

The Owls had eight different one-point leads in the early stages of the opening set as the teams ultimately split the first 28 points of the match evenly, but a service error helped kick off a 6-0 burst for the home team as they took a six-point lead and they warded off the Owls from there to take the upper hand in the match.  Colleen Fraser had a pair of kills and teamed up for a block of Mia Etheridge with Dottin to help KSC get within 20-17, but a service error and a bad set foiled the push as Smith closed out an eventual 22-18 edge by scoring three of the final four points.

In need of a response in the second to put some doubt into the Pioneers, KSC fell into a big hole early, with Allison Chapin – who the Owls could not contain most of the afternoon (12 kills on .450 hitting) – connecting for a kill three times in a span of four rallies to help Smith bolt out to a 9-2 lead.  It was 14-6 Pioneers when KSC scored three straight to trim their deficit to five, and they hung around to some extent, getting within 19-13 on kills by Sarah Bartels and Connors, but never got any closer than that as they hit a match-low .107 in the second to fall into a 2-0 match hole.

The third set was the most back-and-forth of any, as KSC tallied three of the first four points before the Pioneers ran off three in a row to take their own 8-6 lead a short time later.  Two miscues by the home team tied it at eight, but Smith seemed to take command by opening a 15-10 lead with two kills and an ace followed by an Owl attacking miscue.  But KSC fought back quickly, with Dottin sending down a pair of kills and Shaunah Bracken an ace to tie it 17-17.  A pair of Connors kills helped the Owls deadlock the third set twice more after that, including at 20-20, but Smith scored four of the next five to gain distance.  Lauren Bender recorded a kill to make it 22-21, but Chapin answered with two kills of her own to get the Pioneers to match point.  A Fraser block of Chapin kept the Owls alive, but Isis Boyd ended the 12th meeting all-time between the two sides with an unassisted kill.  Smith snapped a four-game losing streak in the series, where the teams had not met since 2019.
Connors and Dottin made just four errors and combined for the 13 kills on 22 total attempts.  Fraser finished with five kills while Ava Harkins had 11 assists.
In addition to Chapin, Etheridge finished with seven kills.

The match combined for just 49 total digs (27-22 for Smith) and nine aces (5-4 Smith).

KSC came home feeling better about themselves with a bounce back against Westfield (8-13, 4-1 MASCAC), ringing up 14 aces in the process with Liv Lowell serving up five of her own in an eight-point span.

Westfield was most pesky in the opening frame, responding after KSC scored eight of nine points to open a 14-9 lead to get within one on two different occasions including at 18-17 following an attacking miscue.  But Keene State found the answers, as Bacon pounded down a kill and Marina Miller racked up two straight aces to make it a five-point (22-17) edge again.  Westfield never recovered in the set, and ultimately, not the match either as KSC bulldozed them in the second set.  The Owls again ripped off another big run, this time thanks to Lowell's serving masterpieces – at one point acing Westfield four straight times – to make it 14-6.  A kill by Mary Heneghan kept her team within 16-10, but KSC laid the hammer down, rattling off nine in a row to win the set including two more aces by Harkins.  The Owls also did not commit an attacking error (nine kills without) in the runaway second.

Leading 2-0 but down 12-11 in the third, Keene State made their final run from that point forward, scoring 10 of the next 13 points (two on Miller aces) to take a six-point (21-15) lead of their own.  Two errors and a kill brought it to a three-point gap, but Bacon and Connors perhaps fittingly helped power another small run of four straight to get the Owls right back into the win column.

"It was a fun day...Smith is a great team, so playing against them was a great challenge," said Keene State head coach Jake Girard.  "They are big and play fast.  We lost, but at the end of the day we played fine against them.  We got it done against Westfield State.  Sarah Bartels had a great day and I credit Liv Lowell for stepping in to set as Lexi (Small) was out with an injury.  It was also good to see Clover (Beebe) on the count in that one.  She came up with some well-time blocks and some good kills."

KSC closes the regular season with two more road games this week, including a trip to Fitchburg State University (3-16, 0-6 MASCAC) on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.