Golden Bears Split Tri-Match with Emerson & Southern Maine

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 10, 2022) – The Western New England women's volleyball team hosted a tri-match tournament with the Emerson College Lions and the University of Southern Maine Huskies. In the Golden Bears first match-up they fell to the Lions 3-0, and in the last match-up of the day, they defeated the University of Southern Maine Huskies 3-0.

Records:

• Western New England: 5-3
• Emerson College:  5-0
• Southern Maine: 1-5

How It Happened: vs. Emerson College

The Golden Bears fell behind to the Emerson Lions early in the first set, trailing 5-0 before Becca Mayer put a kill on the board. The Lions went on another five, nothing run putting WNE down 10-1 until they scored again. A slow start for the Golden Bears brought them down to a 16-3 set back. After a few errors and a kill from Alissa Hawes, WNE had it within a 10-point deficit. The Golden Bears broke the Lions double-digit advantage after giving them a couple more errors, but Emerson went on another 4-0 run and putting them at set point, 24-11. Yemayma Molina put two kills down, ultimately the first set concluded with one returned by the Lions, 25-13.

More competitive in set two, WNE hit the scoreboard first, Emerson soon followed, and it was a tie game for a few scores until Emerson hit another run, score now 9-5. For every play the Golden Bears made, Emerson returned three or four more in a row. It wasn't long that the Lions had picked up a 10-point advantage with the score now 19-9. A couple of Lions' attack errors closed the gap a little. They answered with another 4-0 nothing run now ahead 23-11. The Golden Bears hit a spurt where they had two 3-0 runs, Hawes and Molina picked up some more kills. It was not enough to stop Emerson from getting match-point.

Set three opened with the Golden Bears down 4-0. They fought back to 4-3. The third set was a battle, both teams exchanging kills. WNE was either down or tied until three kills in a row from Hawes, Molina, and Sarah Scott gave them their first set lead at 11-9. Emerson evened it up and fought out a four-point lead at 21-17. The Golden bears, trying to stay alive snuck out three scores to bring it within one. They couldn't hold on and fell to the Lions 3-0.

Inside the Numbers: vs. Emerson College:

• The Golden Bears ended the match with 25 kills, 25 assists, 39 digs, while hitting .065 percent.
• Emerson College ended the match with 36 kills, 35 assists, 54 digs while hitting .220
• Yemayma Molina had six kills, two digs, and four blocking assists for the Golden Bears.
• Alissa Hawes had five kills, two digs, and two blocking assists.
• Taylor Geist contributed with 22 assists while Becca Mayer had 13 digs.

How It Happened: vs. Southern Maine

Sarah Scott and Hailey Sell gave the Golden Bears their first points of the set between kills and service aces and a 4-1 advantage. Southern Maine brought it to within two-points. The Golden Bears then secured another four in a row, ahead 11-5. The Huskies crept back up to only be behind three and kept it within reach until The Golden Bears, with amazing play, had a five-point run with three kills and a service ace, they now were ahead 20-12. Southern Maine managed to make a three-point run of their own but could not stop WNE from reaching set point and closing the first one out 25-19.

Liz Long started it off with a service ace for the Golden Bears in set two. Yemayma Molina and Scott followed with some kills. The Huskies got a couple of points, then there was another Scott kill. Southern tied it up 4-4, then gave up some errors to have WNE back in the lead. Again, the score remained within a few points varying, score 14-13 Golden Bears, who could not be stopped. They put up a consecutive six points where Molina had two more kills and Long added one as well. The Huskies scored three more times in between Golden Bear runs but fell 25-16 in set two.

Like the previous two sets, the third remained competitive in the beginning before the Golden Bears hit a spurt of runs to put them at a decent advantage. The score at 8-6, WNE took three straight to Southern's one, and then another three straight making the score 14-7. The Huskies fought back to bring the score within one at 18-17. The Golden Bears weren't letting up. They answered with a kill from Leah Warren and an ace from Zoe Bozzay. The Huskies scored, but Warren slammed one down on the other side of the net. The last three scores for the Golden Bears to win the game were from kills from Molina, Long, and Scott.

On the Court: vs. Southern Maine

• The Golden Bears ended the match with 43 kills, 40 assists, 74 digs, and two blocks while hitting .225 percent.
• Southern Maine ended the match with 22 kills, 20 assists, and 63 digs while hitting .051
• Sarah Scott led the Golden Bears with 13 kills, 18 digs, two assists, and one block
• Yemayma Molina added 12 more kills and a block for the game.
• Hailey Sell contributed with 34 assists while Becca Mayer had 21 digs as the Libero.

Up Next: The Golden Bears will be back at Alumni Healthful Living Center Tuesday, September 13 where they will host the University of St. Joseph's (Conn.) at 7 p.m.