KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's volleyball team emerged from a tight opening set to take a match lead and then had absolutely no trouble from there, outscoring Worcester State University 50-21 over the final two sets as they cruised to a season-opening sweep (25-22, 25-6, 25-15) in non-conference action at Spaulding Gymnasium Tuesday night.
The Owls seemed to be well in command of the first when they twice led by five early, but the Lancers battled back to take a 17-16 lead on an ace by Rylee Valstyn. KSC scored the next two to jump right back in front, and later scored consecutive points on a
Colleen Fraser kill and ace by rookie
Bella Bacon to take a 24-21 lead and push the Lancers (0-1) to the brink in the set. Two rallies later,
Marina Miller fired down a kill to put an end to the frame – and the match was never close after that.
KSC hit a match-high .409 as they throttled Worcester 25-6 in the second, a burst that included scoring nine consecutive points to take a 13-2 lead. Spikes by
Sarah Bartels and
Aiya Dottin later made it 21-5, and the Owls prevented the Lancers from ever scoring consecutive points in the set, closing on another run of four consecutive points. Keene State finished the frame without making an attacking error while also limiting Worcester to -.042 hitting.
The Owls fired down 15 kills in the third to polish off the sweep, ultimately compiling 24 kills to just three miscues over the final two frames. Miller had a pair of kills and Fraser another as KSC scored five of the first seven to take an early lead before running off five straight points later to take an 11-4 lead, culminating with a kill by Bacon. Dottin and Bacon, both first years, had strong debuts in their first collegiate matches, totaling 11 kills to just two errors with Bacon also adding nine digs. Worcester got within six at 17-11 after blocking Fraser, but KSC ran off another 5-0 run to take a double-digit lead and led by as many as 12 late.
It was an efficient night for many of the Owls to start 2026, with Miller finishing with seven kills to just one error for a .400 hitting percentage. Bartels also matched her with seven spikes and hit .385, while Fraser (.278 pct.) and Dottin (.500 pct.) each had six kills. Bacon had five kills, nine aces, two digs, and two assists in her first match at Spaulding Gymnasium. Harkins had a team-high four aces and
Alexis Small added three as KSC was plus-nine (11-2) in that category.
Delia Ryan finished with a match-best 12 digs and Small a match-high 14 assists.
Worcester State, whose lone win against Keene State in the 27-match all-time series came in 2004, was led by four kills apiece by Beatrice Gamboa-Estrella, Kaitlyn Anthony, and Valstyn.
The Owls travel to the Springfield College Invitational this weekend, beginning with a Friday night matchup against Skidmore College (1-0) on September 4 at 5:00 p.m. before taking on the host Pride and Westfield State University on Saturday. The Thoroughbreds swept Oneonta on the road 25-17, 25-14, 25-21 to open their season tonight. It is the seventh consecutive season the Owls will take part in Springfield's annual early-season tournament.
