KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's volleyball team had four players reach double-digit kills and limited Colby-Sawyer College to just 10 kills and nine attacking errors over the final two sets as the Owls perked up late to derail a feisty Chargers team 3-2 (16-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-19, 15-7) in non-conference action Thursday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.
Sitting at just 2-9 entering the night, Colby-Sawyer hit KSC (5-5) with an unexpected punch right away, scoring nine straight points to take a 9-3 lead in the opening set and never trailed, leading by as many as 12 points. The Owls rebounded, nabbing a 25-17 victory in the second set behind 14 kills to seemingly wash away the bad taste of the first. But the visitors again had an answer, rallying from a 14-10 deficit to tie it at 16-16 before later wiping away an 18-16 gap by tallying four straight, two on kills by Jules Larock. KSC got within one twice, the last of which at 22-21 on a spike by
Colleen Fraser, but Larock added another kill and was followed by spikes from Bree Bacon and Kamryn Brakemeier to give the Chargers, whose only non-conference win came in five sets in the season opener against a Nichols College team the Owls easily swept, the frame as the pressure mounted on KSC.
With the conference opener, and an important five-match stretch looming, the Owls avoided a deflating loss by outscoring the Chargers 40-26 over the fourth and fifth sets to avoid the upset.
Shaunah Bracken capped KSC's opening 8-2 surge in the fourth with an ace, and the Owls' only deficit in the frame ultimately came at 1-0. Colby-Sawyer drew within two (11-9) on a kill by Addison Sasnett, but a serving error by Liv Chandonnait and an ace by
Ava Harkins doubled the lead.
Aiya Dottin and
Bella Bacon followed with kills to make it 15-9, and the Owls were on their away from there, going up 19-12 on a block of Larock by Dottin and
Sarah Bartels. KSC led by as many as eight down the stretch, closing the set on a swing by Bacon.
In a set that can sometimes offer up the greatest suspense – the fifth – there was none on this night in that frame, and the Owls will not complain, putting away Colby-Sawyer quickly in the decider. Bacon served KSC an ace to make it 3-0 quickly, and Bartels and Fraser followed with kills to make it a five-point lead. Fraser followed with kills to make it 7-1 and 9-3, and Bacon fired down a pair of spikes down the stretch to tie Fraser for the team-high in kills. KSC's closing push also included an ace by
Reece Connors for a 13-5 edge, and one of Bacon's kills brought up match point with the Owls leading by seven before Bartels ended it.
Despite Colby-Sawyer opening the match with a .556 attacking percentage in the first set, the Owls eventually cooled them off and won the attacking battle .203 to .179. KSC racked up 21 kills to just six errors in the two sets they had to have.
Fraser made just two attacking errors and finished with 12 kills, hitting .313. She added four digs. Bacon finished with 12 kills (.147 pct.) and 16 digs for a double-double, while Connors had 11 spikes on .333 hitting. Bartels finished with 10 kills and nine digs. Harkins had 27 assists, 10 digs, and three aces.
Sasnett (.243 pct.) and Larock (.219 pct.) led Colby-Sawyer's offense with 12 kills apiece. Larock added 16 digs while Madison Sinatro had a team-high 17. Bree Bacon, the older sister of KSC first year Bella and a senior at CSC, had 36 assists and 12 digs in what be the only collegiate matchup between the two sisters.
Both teams were under-water at the service line, combining for 27 service errors with Colby-Sawyer committing 15.
Keene State's LEC opener comes up next in less than 48 hours, as they visit Eastern Connecticut State University (7-3) on Saturday (September 26) for a 1:00 p.m. start. The Warriors have played consecutive five-set matches, beating Westfield State University and losing at home to Connecticut College. The Owls have lost six of their last eight against the Warriors after winning nine straight sets and three straight meetings in 2017 and 2018.
