Golden Bears Celebrate Senior Day with 3-2 Win over Gordon

Western New England finishes regular season at 19-9 (7-2 CCC), secures No. 3 seed in CCC Tournament

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 29, 2016) – The Western New England University volleyball team wrapped up its regular season schedule with a 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 17-15) victory over Gordon College this afternoon on senior day in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Prior to the start of the match, Western New England honored its lone senior, Jenna Leuck (Dumont, N.J.), and junior Torie Howdeshell (Fairbanks, Alaska), who will be graduating early next May.

Top Performers
• Leuck made the most of her senior day, registering her first career triple-double with 39 assists, 17 digs, ten kills and four block assists. The senior captain hit a team-best .474 with just one error in 19 attempts.
• Junior outside hitter Emmaline Chiodini (St. Louis, Mo.) turned in another impressive performance, tallying team-highs in both kills (17) and digs (22) to go with two assists, one ace and one block.
• Freshman outside hitter Ashley Matthews (Salem, N.H.) finished with eight kills, 21 digs, two aces and two assists.
• Freshman middle hitter Cassandra Holmes (Ellington, Conn.) hit .353 with eight kills and three blocks.

• Freshman outside hitter Amanda Snyder (San Jose, Calif.) led the Gordon offense with a team-high 15 kills, while senior libero Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) paced the Fighting Scots defensively with 32 digs.

Match Review
• Western New England, which led 22-18 late in the opening set following an attack error by Snyder, fell victim to a 7-1 Gordon run the rest of the way as the Fighting Scots took a 1-0 lead in the match.
• The Golden Bears bounced back with consecutive 25-20 wins in sets two and three, respectively, to claim a 2-1 advantage. Western New England was aided by a match-best .306 hitting percentage in the third frame.
• Needing a fourth set win to stay alive, the Fighting Scots opened up a 16-10 lead midway through the frame, but the Golden Bears battled all the way back to tie the score at 21. Gordon was able to come away with a 25-23 win, however, to send the contest to a fifth and deciding set. 
• The visitors were in control early in the fifth set, leading 4-0, but Western New England reeled off four straight points after the teams switched sides to take a 9-8 lead. The back-and-forth frame featured six ties after that point, including a 15-15 deadlock. Consecutive kills by Holmes sealed the thrilling finish in Western New England's favor as the Golden Bears came away with a win in their regular season finale.

Notes
• Western New England, which has now won four consecutive matches, is 10-3 at the Alumni Healthful Living Center this fall.
• Chiodini has recorded 10+ digs in seven straight matches and 10+ kills in six of her last seven contests. She has compiled 48 kills and 79 digs during Western New England's four-match winning streak.
• Junior middle hitter Carly Skibinski (Milford, N.J.) finished with seven kills and four block assists.

Up Next
These two teams will meet again when the CCC Tournament gets underway with quarterfinal round action on Tuesday night, as third-seeded Western New England (19-9, 7-2 CCC) will host sixth-seeded Gordon (13-14, 5-4 CCC).