Volleyball Extends Win Streak to Four with Win Over Framingham St. 3-1

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 9, 2021) – The Western New England volleyball team advanced to 4-0 on the season after a 3-1 win over Framingham tonight.

Records:

• Framingham State: 0-3
• Western New England: 4-0

How It Happened:

Framingham started the first set with a 3-0 lead and extended it to 8-3 before the Golden Bears were able to get any momentum. Alissa Hawes earned a kill to change the serve to Western New England and with Sarah Scott at the serve the Golden Bears tallied two more points to get within two (8-6). The Rams regained their lead and then some to take a 16-11 lead. The Golden Bears rallied with Hailey Sell at the serve to score seven unanswered points and take their first lead of the set 18-16. The Golden Bears followed that run with a 4-0 run to extend their lead to five (22-17). The Rams were unable to recover, and the Golden Bears took the first set 25-20.

In the second set, the action was back-and-forth with the two teams trading points until the Golden Bears were able to score three straight and take a 6-5 lead. Later another 3-0 run gave Western New England a 12-11 lead before the Rams amped up their offense to score four unanswered points and take a 15-12 lead, their largest of the set. The set was then tied two times at 16-16 and 17-17 before The Golden Bears tied it for the last time at 18-18 and then took the 21-18 lead. Despite a strong Rams comeback at 23-22, the Golden Bears held on and won the second set 25-23 and went up 2-0 in the match.

The third set began with more back-and-forth action until the Rams scored three consecutive points to take the 7-4 lead. The Rams extended their lead to four after another 3-0 to lead 12-8. The Golden Bears later rallied for a 4-0 run to tie the set 14-14 and later at 15-15. After a kill from Sydney Tabor, the Golden Bears took off with a 6-0 run to earn their largest lead of the set 21-17. Despite leading 23-19, the Rams came back with their own 6-0 run to win the set 25-23 and send the match into the fourth.

The back-and-forth action started from the jump in the fourth set with neither team able to score more than one point consecutively. The Golden Bears broke that with a 3-0 run to lead 8-5 followed by a 4-0 run to take a 13-8 lead over the Rams. With Taylor Deluga at the serve, Western New England rallied for six unanswered points to take a ten-point lead (19-9), their largest of the match. The Rams fought back with four consecutive points toward the end of the set to get within seven only for the Golden Bears to score the final point and win the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.

Inside the Numbers:

• Scott set a career-high with 20 kills in the match while also earning the double-double with 20 digs. She had a .28 kill percentage and tallied two assists and two service aces.
• Sell set a career-high 42 assists as the setter for the Golden Bears tonight while also earning a double-double with 10 digs.
• Zoe Bozzay made her college debut with 19 digs while both Alissa Hawes and Becca Mayer recorded 17 digs apiece.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears are home on Saturday, September 11^th when they host both Amherst and Emerson for a tri-match that will begin at 11:00 a.m.