Volleyball Drops Two Non-Conference Matches at the WNE Invitational

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 16, 2021) – The Western New England Golden Bears hosted the WNE Invitational where Western New England played Eastern Connecticut State at 10 a.m. and Clark University at 2 p.m. The Golden Bears fell to Eastern Connecticut State 3-0 and Clark 3-1.

Records:

• Western New England: 9-10, 2-3 CCC
• Eastern Conn. St.: 13-5, 4-2 LEC
• Clark: 12-8, 3-4 LEC

How It Happened: vs. Eastern Conn. St.

The Warriors opened the first set with three straight points and later tallied three more to take a 7-3 lead. For the next 10 points of the set the Golden Bears were only able to score one point at a time while the Warriors extended their lead 13-8. A 4-0 run followed by another 4-0 streak for the Warriors gave them their largest lead of the set 21-9. Despite the Golden Bears' effort, they were unable to make up ground and fell to the Warriors 25-13 in the first set.

The second set started with the Golden Bears scoring the first two points for their first lead of the day. After Western New England went up 4-2, the Warriors rallied for seven unanswered points to take a 9-4 lead. The two teams then began trading points before the Golden Bears strung three points together to get back within two of the Warriors (12-10). The Warriors answered with three points of their own to go ahead by five once again (15-10). After the Golden Bears tallied three more points, the Warriors gained control with two points followed by a 6-0 run to take a 23-15 lead. The Warriors closed out the set winning 25-18 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set started with the Warriors leading 6-3 followed by three straight points for the Warriors to lead 9-4. The Golden Bears responded with three points themselves to get back within two (9-7). The Golden Bears began to chip away at the Warriors' lead scoring two points at a time to the Warriors one to tie the set three times before taking a 14-13 lead. The Warriors tied the set 14-14 and after one point by the Golden Bears went on a 4-0 run to take an 18-15 lead. Once again the Golden Bears worked to regain the lead and tied the set 24-24 before the Warriors rallied for the final two points to win the third set 26-24 and the match 3-0.

Inside the Numbers: vs. Eastern Conn. St.

• The Golden Bears ended the match with 28 kills, 27 assists, 49 digs and 10 blocks while hitting .088 percent.
• Sarah Scott led Western New England with nine kills while also recording eight digs and one service ace.
• Olivia Hall tallied six kills with eight digs and two service aces.
• Taylor Geist earned 24 assists with seven digs and two kills in the game.
• Taylor Deluga led the team with 12 digs at libero while Alissa Hawes earned 11 in the match.

How It Happened: vs. Clark

Clark jumped out to an early lead against the Golden Bears scoring the first three points of the set followed by a 4-0 run to take a 7-1 lead. The Cougars continued to extend their lead with four more points to take a nine-point lead in the set (12-3). The Golden Bears were able to score two points at a time while the Cougars continued to extend their lead. The Golden Bears were down 19-10 when they rallied for three points to get within six (19-13). The Cougars answered quickly with three points themselves and chipped away to win the set 25-16.

The Golden Bears upped their game in the second set taking an early 4-1 lead. The two teams then began trading points with neither team able to score more than two points consecutively until the Golden Bears led 15-13 and with Zoe Bozzay at the serve rallied for four points to extend their lead to six (19-13). Later with Olivia Hall serving, Western New England scored four more unanswered points to make it set point (24-16). After the Cougars scored three points, the Golden Bears won the set 25-19 to tie the match 1-1.

The Cougars started the third set strong with a 7-2 lead. The two teams then began the back-and-forth action once again with the Cougars maintaining their lead the entire time. The Golden Bears were down five (16-11) when Clark scored three straight points to extend their lead 19-11. After two more points for the Cougars, the Golden Bears fought for two three-point streaks to get within four (22-18). The Cougars rallied to close the third set winning 25-19 and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, the Cougars started strong once again with a 5-1 lead. With two attack errors by the Cougars the Golden Bears were able to get within one (5-4). This did not last long as the Cougars went right back to work with three points to take an 8-4 lead. Clark recorded a 3-0 run to lead 13-7 before the two teams began trading points once again. The Golden Bears were down 20-14 when they rallied for three points with Alissa Hawes at the serve recording a service ace and a kill while Abigail Bundy earned the other point to get Western New England back within three (20-17). Later, the Golden Bears were down 23-19 when they rallied for three points with two kills by Sarah Scott and a service ace from Taylor Deluga to get within one of the Cougars, 23-22. Despite their efforts, the Cougars closed out the set 25-23 and won the match 3-1.

Inside the Numbers: vs. Clark

• The Golden Bears tallied 50 kills, 48 assists and 76 digs in the match while earning nine blocks, 10 service aces and hitting .115 percent.
• Both Sarah Scott and Abigail Bundy recorded double-digit kills with Scott leading with 14 and Bundy tallying 11.
• Scott completed the double-double in the match with 14 digs as well while hitting .303.
• Taylor Deluga led the Golden Bears with 21 digs and tallied three service aces while Hailey Sell and Alissa Hawes both notched 13 digs apiece.
• Sell led the team with 41 assists to tie her career high.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears travel to Curry College on Tuesday, October 19^th to resume Commonwealth Coast Conference play at 6:00 p.m.