KEENE, N.H. –
Marina Miller finished with a team-high 28 kills while
Reece Connors hit .412 and
Colleen Fraser .321 as the Keene State College women's volleyball team sizzled on offense Saturday, splitting a tri-match with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Western New England University at Spaulding Gymnasium.
The Owls (4-5) dropped a tough five-set battle to WPI (6-4), falling in extra points in every frame the Engineers won including in the first when they rallied for a 26-25 lead, the third when they overcame a 14-7 deficit to take a 24-23 lead (and led two times thereafter), and the fifth when they led 13-12 late. There was plenty of good otherwise in the match, including racking up 67 kills and 82 digs. KSC then did bounce back in the day's second match, blowing past Western New England (3-7) 25-15, 25-17, and 25-23 in a straight set sweep in which the Owls hit .345 (47 kills, eight errors) as a team and did not trail at any point until late in the third set.
Against WPI, who KSC had defeated three straight times, the Owls nearly pulled off a big comeback in the first set of the day, coming back from an 18-13 deficit to tie it at 22-22 on a kill by Fraser. A block by Connors and
Bella Bacon followed by a kill from
Aiya Dottin actually gave the Owls the first set point opportunity, but a kill by Niki Szavuly and an ace then gave WPI a shot to close it out. Fraser again came up with a big swing, tying it at 25 before KSC went back in front thanks to an attacking error, but a serving miscue denied the Owls another chance to end the set, and a kill by Zeala VanDamme and Owl attacking miscue gave an entertaining frame to WPI.
Keene State, as they did most of the day however, rebounded, answering by taking the second set thanks in part to an 8-1 burst that flipped a two-point deficit (11-9) into a 17-12 advantage. WPI got as close as three after that, but kills by Fraser and Dottin along with an ace by
Alexis Small pushed KSC in front 22-16. Dottin and
Sarah Bartels stuffed Bridget Spees to put the Owls one point away at 24-20, and Miller got a kill on a blocking miscue by WPI two points later to even the match. Miller would finish the day hitting .202 across both matches, adding 22 digs and four aces.
Keene State could categorize the third set as a frustrating swing in momentum, as it seemed the Owls were going to stun the Engineers, taking their first lead since it was 1-0 at 24-23 thanks to an ace and two straight kills by Miller, who took over. KSC had trailed 9-3, 14-7, 17-10, and 19-13 before staging the furious push. But in a match decided by a razor thin margin, it was WPI who got the points they needed (very) late in three of the five sets, as Szavuly kept them alive in the fourth twice. Dottin, a freshman, swung for a kill to put KSC back in front 26-25, but a critical service error foiled the Owls' winning shot, and the visitors got a kill from Spees and an ace by Taylor Simpson to retake the match lead.
A compelling, back-and-forth fourth frame is likely what Owls head coach Jake Girard will point to as far as finishing. KSC trailed 6-3 early, but then reeled off seven straight points that included three aces by
Ava Harkins to take a four-point edge. The teams traded blows from there, eventually splitting the first 40 points of the set. Bacon put KSC up 21-20 with a kill, only for the Engineers to get a spikes from VanDamme and Anastasia Kelnik to move three points away from ending the match. The Owls landed the final punch to force it five, however, as kills from three different people and a block by first years Bacon and Dottin accounted for the four straight to win 25-22.
The wild back-and-forth match had a fitting conclusion – another battle to the finish. Swings by Fraser and Bacon moved the Owls out to a 7-5 lead, only to see WPI answer with five straight including another ill-timed service error that began the visitors' run. KSC got within one (11-10) on another kill by Dottin, and later took a one-point lead of their own at 13-12 after three straight kills by Small, Miller, and Bartels. WPI answered with the next two, however, and had the first chance at match point, but Dottin staved it off with a solo block and
Shaunah Bracken dialed up an ace to give the Owls a shot to close the match at 15-14. The Engineers had one
final push, as Spees again kept them alive with a kill before a KSC attacking miscue and a block handed the Owls a bitter loss.
The match featured a whopping 41 ties and 23 lead changes and took nearly two and a half hours as WPI moved to 3-0 against Little East Conference teams, previously beating the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in four on the road September 11 and Plymouth State University in five at home September 12.
KSC could not control the Engineers' offense quite enough, with Spees finishing with 14 kills on a .204 attacking clip and Olivia Hutchinson 13 kills to just one error. Szavuly also had 12 kills as WPI hit .235 as a team. Miller led the Owls with 16 kills while Fraser added 13 and Connors 10. Dottin, Bartels, and Bacon all had nine. WPI had 13 blocks to KSC's eight.
The Owls had no trouble easing the sting of the opening loss, capping the day with a comfortable win over Western New England that begin with 25-15 and 25-17 set wins that saw KSC rack up 33 kills while making just six errors. The Owls would go on to hit a season-best .345 as the Golden Bears had no answer defensively, with Miller piling up 12 kills on a .355 attacking clip. Fraser added nine spikes and made just two miscues while Connors and Bacon had eight and did not have any errors. Connors, a transfer from Worcester State University, has come on over the last eight days, racking up 29 kills and hitting .361.
Western New England was on their heels all day, falling into a 10-5 hole right away. They got as close as two (13-11) in the first set, but Connors and Miller teamed up for four spikes in a span of five points to push the Owls back out to an 18-11 edge as they cruised from there, going up double-figures (24-14) on Small's ace.
KSC also used a mid-set run to take a 2-0 match lead in the second, scoring five of six points to push a 9-8 lead to five on kills by Dottin and Bartels. WNE was never closer than four from there, and the Owls again took a double-digit edge (23-13) after three straight kills by their standout rookies Bacon and Dottin, who also later each had a kill to help KSC close out the frame.
The Golden Bears threatened late to push the match to four, rallying from 9-4 and 12-7 deficits to take their lone leads at 21-20 on an ace and 22-21 on a kill by Hilarie Porcaro, but Fraser came up big again when her team needed it and Dottin blocked Kendra Robayo to give KSC the lead back. A serving miscue tied it at 23, but the Owls punctuated the day with a Bacon spike and Small ace.
Charlei Henkel had 13 of the Golden Bears' 32 kills as a team.
The Owls entered the day having hit .123 and .066 in their previous two matches but today had 14.25 kills per set (three more than their opponents) and hit .266 as a team. They were also plus-seven in aces and plus-19 in digs overall.
Keene State remains home to host Colby-Sawyer College (2-8, 1-1 GNAC) on Thursday (September 24) at 6:00 p.m. before opening conference action at Eastern Connecticut State University Saturday.
