KEENE, N.H. – First years
Bella Bacon and
Aiya Dottin combined for 21 kills while classmate
Shaunah Bracken had a match-high 18 digs along with three aces as the No. 3 seeded Keene State College women's volleyball team opened their Little East Conference run with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over sixth-seed Vermont State University Castleton at Spaulding Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
The win marked KSC's (18-9) first conference tournament win since taking the title in 2022 – and with a young team, hope this is just the start of something special set to form in the upcoming seasons as their top two kill leaders tonight are first years, their digs leader was a first year, and their leading assist-getter is a sophomore. But for now, the Owls will look just one game ahead – a trip to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth for a semifinal match on Thursday night (November 12) at 7:00 p.m. KSC fell to the Corsairs, who received a quarterfinal bye, in a five-set nailbiter in September. The two teams will now meet again with much more on the line.
The Owls arrived to their semifinal destination by authoring a big bounce back after a shaky second set that allowed Castleton (11-14) to tie the match, pummeling the Spartans 25-6 in a dominating third set to retake the match lead. The visitors were pesky again in the fourth as they tried to force the match to a fifth set, wiping away early 5-2 and 10-5 deficits to get within one three different times, including on a Sam Ford block that made it 16-15. They never tied it, though, as
Marina Miller and Bacon answered with spikes as KSC closed the match on a 9-1 burst polished off with a thunderous
Colleen Fraser kill. Bacon had three kills in the finishing punch and was a force all night, compiling 12 kills on a strong .385 hitting percentage to go with nine digs and five service aces.
After Castleton erased an early 4-0 deficit with a stunning 18-4 surge in the second set as KSC hit sub-zero, the Owls obliterated the Spartans in a swing third set – opening on an 8-2 surge before later scoring eight straight points to go up 16-3. KSC still had 5-0 and 4-0 runs left in them to close the frame, outhitting the Spartans .429 to .-259. In the final two sets, KSC compiled 22 kills to just five errors, hitting .288. They made nine miscues in the lone set the Spartans won.
Castleton, who has lost all ten all-time meetings and will be joining the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) next academic year, had qualified for their first-ever Little East Conference tournament with a photo finish against Rhode Island College at home this past Saturday, taking the fifth set 20-18.
The Spartans proved more plucky this time around than the first, when KSC rolled along to a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-17, 25-16) while hitting .337 on October 21, but it ultimately was not enough. Alondra Rojas had a big effort in the losing effort for Castleton, finishing with six kills to just one error (.294 pct.), 21 assists, 14 digs, and four aces. Rojas and Olivia Smith had a combined eight kills without an error in the Spartans' 25-16 second set win.
Castleton had a shot to take the opening set also, but Keene State grinded out a win, breaking away from two late ties (21-21, 22-22) to score the final three points – a Dottin block, Bracken ace, and Spartans attacking miscue.
In the semifinal on Thursday at the Tripp Athletic Center, KSC will look to snap a four-game losing streak in the head-to-head series against UMass-Dartmouth. The other semifinal will see No. 4 seed Plymouth State University take on top seed University of Massachusetts-Boston by the Boston Harbor on Thursday night. Plymouth upset the Beacons and handed them their lone league loss with a five-set victory in Plymouth (15-6 in the fifth) last weekend. The top four teams in the league standings were separated by just one game in the standings at the end of the regular season.
KSC's 18 wins are now the most in a single-season since a 23-9 campaign in 2019 (5-3 LEC), though the Owls did not get past the conference quarterfinals that season.
