Golden Bear Volleyball Split Another Pair on the Road

CORTLAND, N.Y. (September 3, 2022) – The Western New England women's volleyball team returned for day two of the 37^th Annual Cortland Red Dragon Volleyball Classic. In their first game against SUNY Cortland Red Dragons, they fell short in four sets, and in their second game, they dominated St. Lawrence Saints in three sets.

Records:

• Western New England: 2-2
• SUNY Cortland:  2-0
• St. Lawrence University: 0-3

How It Happened: vs. SUNY Cortland

The first set was a battle between the two teams. The Cortland Red Dragons started the set with five straight points that started with a kill, then a service ace proceeded by a few more kills. Alissa Hawes put the first kill for the Golden Bears down on the other side of the net, but it became a 9-2 game Red Dragons. Cortland held on and built up that lead to nine points with a score of 12-3. The Golden Bears fought to close the score gap that brought it within four points after a couple of kills from Hawes and Sarah Scott. They let the Red Dragons get three consecutive points back on the board but closed the difference back to five for a score of 20-15. The two teams exchanged kills for a few plays and the Golden Bears had decreased Cortland's lead to three points for a score of 19-22. WNE could not hold them and only got another point in before the Red Dragons closed out the first set 25-20.

The second set started more competitive. The Golden Bears hit the scoreboard first, but the Red Dragons soon followed with five points of their own. Scott and Hawes picked up the first two kills of the set for WNE. The Red dragons were on fire and hit a 11-4 lead until they had a series of errors that let the Golden Bears get back into the game still trailing 14-9. WNE could not break up the Red Dragons scoring multiple points in a row. Their lead had been bumped to 19-11. The two team did exchange kills and points at the end of the set, but it was too late for the Golden Bears to close the gap and lost the second set 25-17.

Set three had the Red Dragons with the first couple of points. WNE wasted no time tying the third set up at 2-2, then took the lead at 4-3 from two kills from Hawes. The Golden Bears held Cortland at four points while adding nine points of their own. They then held the Red Dragons at six while a service ace brought their score to 13. Cortland and WNE went point for point until another four-point series from the Golden Bears who now had a double-digit lead at 18-8. The Red Dragons had some plays work in their favor but could not close the score deficit. They trailed by seven with the Golden Bears up 20-13 and then WNE added two more. Cortland held the Golden Bears at match point for three plays until a service error cost them the match. Golden Bears got their first set win in the third for a score of 25-17.

Western New England picked up point one with a Scott kill. An error tied it up, and a kill and an ace gave Cortland the lead. Another kill from Scott brought it back within one and then Cortland picked up three straight. The score was now 7-3, Red Dragons. Cortland increased their lead to 11-6 before a couple of errors gave WNE a couple of points. The Golden Bears fought to bring the score within two points, trailing 12-10. They unfortunately had too many errors giving the Red Dragons six more points while they remained stagnant at 10. The score of set four was now 18-10. The Golden Bears only scored two more points the remainder of the set and lost the set 25-12 and the game three sets to one.

Inside the Numbers: vs. SUNY Cortland:

• The Golden Bears ended the match with 37 kills, 34 assists, and 37 digs, while hitting .036 percent.
• Alissa Hawes and Sarah Scott led Western New England with 13 kills and one service ace. Hawes also had nine digs, while Scott had six.
• At the Libero, Becca Mayer had 11 digs and two service aces.
• Taylor Geist contributed with 31 assists

How It Happened: vs. St. Lawrence University

The first set started with St. Lawrence hitting the scoreboard first, but Western New England tied it up immediately, then went up 3-1. The two teams battled back-and-forth tying it up and taking the lead from each other. After WNE went down 11-9, it ignited a spark on the team that let them go for seven straight points with four kills taking a 16-11 lead. The two battled taking a couple of points after the other, and St. Lawrence closed the gap to three, for a score of 20-17. The Golden Bears took over the end of the set scoring five straight to close it out and win the first 25-17.

The Golden Bears never let up, scoring first in the second set, and gaining a 4-1 advantage. They never lost the lead of the match. The Saints brought it within one a couple of times during the set but soon the Golden Bears had a seven-point lead at 14-7 that St. Lawrence couldn't shake. It soon became a 10-point game. WNE ended up defeating the Saints in the second set 25-13.

The third set was the final set of the game. It started with a 3-0 advantage for the Golden Bears, but the two teams took turns taking the pace of the game. The Saints went on a four nothing run right after, making it a 4-3 set. WNE responded by taking five points of their own. They quickly built a five-point lead. The Golden Bears held the lead, the score was now at a six-point difference with a score of 15-9. The Saints did not back down, they took five straight to make it a three-point game at 16-13. The two did battle it out for the rest of the set, but ultimately the Saints could not stop the Golden Bears and won the third set 25-19.

On the Court: vs. St. Lawrence University

• The Golden Bears ended the match with 32 kills, 26 assists, 29 digs, and two blocks while hitting .212 percent.
• Sarah Scott led the team with eight kills, eight digs, and two service aces.
• Yemayma Molina also added eight kills with two digs and two blocks
• Hailey Sell contributed with 22 assists with five digs, and Zoe Bozzay added six digs.

Up Next: The Golden Bears will appear in their first home game of the season Tuesday, September 6, at 7:00 p.m. where they will take on the Elms College Blazers.