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Western New England Cruises to 3-0 Sweep of Nichols

Western New England Cruises to 3-0 Sweep of Nichols

Kornberg leads Golden Bears with nine kills, six aces and six digs

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 5, 2016) – The Western New England University volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-10) sweep of Nichols College this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
• Junior outside hitter Alona Kornberg (Fair Lawn, N.J.) led a balanced Golden Bear offense with a team-high nine kills and just one error in 19 attempts (.421). Kornberg also added six digs and matched her career-high with six service aces.
• Freshman middle hitter Cassandra Holmes (Ellington, Conn.) finished with seven kills without making an error in 12 attempts (.583).
• Junior outside hitter Sam Heffer (Bethpage, N.Y.) matched Kornberg with six aces and also chipped in with four kills.

• Freshman outside hitter J'ena Baker (Rockledge, Fla.) posted a double-double for the Bison with match-highs in both kills (ten) and digs (14).

Match Review
• Leading 13-8 in the opening set, the Golden Bears reeled off 11 straight points to open up a 24-8 advantage. Nichols got one point back before junior middle hitter Carly Skibinski (Milford, N.J.) closed out the frame with a kill.
• The Bison led 7-5 early in the second set, before falling victim to a 4-0 Western New England run as the Golden Bears pulled ahead for good. Another 11-0 run later in the frame allowed the home team to extend their cushion to 22-9 en route to a 2-0 set lead.
• Baker opened the third set with a kill for the Bison, but a 6-0 Western New England run followed. Another 6-0 run midway through the set, which featured five of Heffer's aces, pushed the Golden Bears' lead to ten (15-5) as they rolled to a 25-10 victory to complete the sweep.

Notes
• Western New England is now 5-4 in three-set matches this fall.
• The Golden Bears hit .333 as a team, their second best percentage of the season and best since posting a .415 mark in a 3-0 sweep of Eastern Nazarene on September 21.
• Western New England's 16 aces are tied for the third highest total this season.
• The Golden Bears are 7-1 at home in 2016. Their only setback at the Alumni Healthful Living Center was a 3-2 defeat to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the season-opener on September 1.

Up Next
Western New England (11-6, 3-1 CCC) returns to action on Saturday, as the Golden Bears are set to host a tri-match with UMass Dartmouth and Johnson & Wales. Nichols (4-11, 0-4 CCC) is off until next Tuesday, when the Bison travel to Eastern Nazarene for a conference contest.