NASHUA, N.H. – A Keene State College offense that hit .200 or better in four of their last five matches will enter three straight matches at home looking to recapture their swings as the Owls hit just .066 while losing at Rivier University 3-1 (21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 21-25) in non-conference action Wednesday night at Muldoon Gymnasium.
Just days after hitting .123 in a five-set loss at Mount Holyoke College, KSC (3-4) swung at a season-low .066 clip including .000 in what turned out to be a crucial second set that put the Owls in a deep hole. After seeing a 16-14 lead flipped into a 24-18 deficit thanks to a 10-2 run by Rivier (3-4) late in the opening set as KSC eventually fell 25-21, the Owls seemed poised to even the match after rallying from a 6-0 deficit to lead by five at 15-10 following points that ended with a
Bella Bacon kill,
Aiya Dottin kill, and
Alexis Small ace consecutively. Dottin fired down another spike for a 16-11 edge two points later, but perhaps the match-defining stretch came next as a service error began a string of six straight for the home team who retook the lead and all momentum. KSC tied it four subsequent times (all on varieties of Raider miscues), the last of which at 21-21, but Sam Driend – who finished with a match-high tying 15 kills, collected two of them at a critical time to put her team back in front and KSC subsequently wound up allowing the final four points of the set to trail 2-0 in the match.
Keene State ran off a 6-0 burst midway through the third after trailing by five to stay alive, and eventually extended an expanded run to 15-4 to sprint out in front by six at 22-16 to force a fourth, winning the frame 25-19 on
Reece Connors' kill. But momentum – and the Owls' offense – was fleeting, as they went 15 straight points without a kill in the fourth set as the Raiders used a 10-2 scoring binge to threaten an early runaway at 12-5 in the fourth. Down 13-8 after another kill by Connors and eventually 17-9, the Owls did fight back, getting within 21-18 on a bad set by Rivier's Ava Pohopek.
Ava Harkins' ace three rallies later made it 22-20, but KSC saw
Sarah Bartels get blocked at the net and Brooke Braswell then found a kill to put her team at match point with a sizable cushion. Bartels warded it off one time, but Driend finished the sputtering Owls off with a kill.
Dottin had nine kills and made just three errors on 15 total swings while adding a solo block and two block assists in another impressive early-career effort for the first year. Fellow classmate Bacon added seven spikes, nine digs, and a pair of aces, but outside of Dottin, KSC hit .025 as a team.
Marina Miller had five kills and five digs, while Small had 18 assists, two aces, and seven digs. Harkins had 10 assists and two aces, but the Owls nullified their nine aces by making 11 reception errors. They were also minus-12 in digs.
"(Rivier) earned it and we did not," said KSC head coach Jake Girard. "They brought it from the service line and we got aced way too many times."
"We had some good digs and good sets get messed up because of the low ceiling but it is low for everyone and they get a little home court advantage with that. Our passing limited our offense and setters were running around too much. Some balls were just too tight.
Aiya Dottin is really getting in on the action and playing better and better every game."
Dottin is hitting .250 (34 kills) in her first seven matches as a rookie.
Driend and Emily Zeblisky each paced Rivier with 15 kills apiece, making only seven errors and hitting .324 and .462, respectively. Lily Seibel had 15 digs to lead four in double-digits in that category (KSC had one) as the Raiders beat the Owls in four for the second straight year. KSC is 6-8 all-time in Nashua but has not won consecutive matches in the series since 2017.
The Owls return home to host a tri-match with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (4-4) and Western New England University (3-4) on Saturday (September 19) that begins at 12:00 p.m. KSC's match with the Golden Bears is slated for 4:00 p.m. The Owls are also at Spaulding Gymnasium on Thursday for a home match against Colby-Sawyer College before traveling to Eastern Connecticut State University to open conference play next Saturday.
