Golden Bear Volleyball Splits at Tri-Match at Clark University

WORCESTER, Mass. (September 17, 2022) – The Western New England women's volleyball team traveled to Clark University for a tri-match with Elmira College and Clark. The Golden Bears defeated the Soaring Cougars 3-1, and the fell to Cougars 3-0.

Records:

• Western New England: 8-4
• Elmira College: 5-6
• Clark University: 6-4

 How It Happened vs. Elmira College: Two kills from Yemayma Molina put WNE ahead to start. Elmira tied it up in the next two plays. The scoring remained back and forth, each team only getting a couple point advantage before the set was tied back up. The Golden Bears got a couple of kills from Sarah Scott and Alissa Hawes to put them up 6-4 before errors gave the points back to Elmira. The score was tied at 12-12 until Scott slammed a kill down to go up one. It was the last WNE lead of the set. The Soaring Eagles went for four straight, that gave them a 16-13 lead and the momentum in the set. The Golden Bears were playing catch up. A service error gave WNE control over the ball, but an attack error gave it right back to Elmira. Two kills from the Golden Bears' Rachel Critz put them back within one of the Soaring Eagles for a 17-16 score. WNE and Elmira exchanged kills and errors to keep it a one-point game, 19-18, until Elmira went for six in a row to close out set one on top of the Golden Bears 25-18.

Two attack errors began set two that gave the Golden Bears the first couple points of to start. They built up a lead early. A few runs put them ahead 7-3. They again got into a back-and-forth scoring battle with Elmira bringing the score to 10-7 before the Golden Bears increased their lead again. WNE took a 20-11 lead with most of Elmira's points coming from WNE errors. After a service error from The Golden Bears, the Soaring Eagles started fighting back with a spirt of six points, three kills and two aces, that made it a three-point game, score 21-18. A timeout gave WNE what they needed, and a kill and two aces from Hawes, and a kill from Long ended set two with the Golden Bears tying up the match at one set a piece.

The third set was a close match up. A service error put WNE on the scoreboard. An attack error tied it for Elmira. The Golden Bears went for four in a row, the Soaring Eagles went for four in a row. They took the lead at 9-7, and then the Golden Bears tied it up and then took a two-point lead, score 12-10. A service error and two kills put the Soaring Eagles back ahead, but not for long. The Golden Bears had it even again and had a one-point lead 17-16. Elmira took back the advantage and went on another run that put them ahead 21-18. Again, the Golden Bears were fighting from behind towards the end of the set. They battled to tie it up at 22-22, Elmira scored again but WNE closed it out 25-23 to put them up 2-1.

The Golden Bears, with match point, closed out the fourth set dominating the Soaring Eagles. They held them to only eight points with only three of them being kills. The Golden Bears went for 10 kills in on 23 attacks. The golden Bears won their first game of the day in three sets to one, winning three straight.

Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears ended the match with 46 kills, 44 assists, 61 digs, and five blocks while hitting .161 percent.
• Soaring Eagles ended the match with 25 kills, 23 assists, 52 digs, and one block, while hitting .00 percent
• Sarah Scott led Western New England with 16 kills plus nine digs and two blocks.
• Taylor Geist contributed with 37 assists, five digs, and two service aces.

How It Happened vs. Clark University: The Clark University Cougars scored off of a kill on the first play. Western New England took a 4-1 lead. Two kills from Clark put them back ahead. After a service error from them, they went on a 9-0 run for a score of 12-6. The Golden Bears caught a break on a service error then gave it right back with one of their own. The Golden Bears would score and then the Cougars would score twice. Clark had increased their lead to 20-12 before an attack error gave the Golden Bears a chance. Two service aces from Zoe Bozzay closed the lead gap to 20-15. That was the last big run for WNE in set one, without stopping Clark from scoring, and the Cougars closed it out 25-19.

Proceeding the first set point for Clark, the Golden Bears took the lead following a kill from Yemayma Molina and a service ace from Liz Long. The cougars went on a 3-0 run and the Golden Bears answered with a 3-0 run. The score was tied up at 5-5. Two kills and two aces had WNE back up 9-5. A kill and three errors tied the score up for the Cougars. The Golden Bears held on to the lead for a while, but Clark did not trail by much. Another kill from Long was the last score before the Cougars took back the lead, 14-12. Clark went on a 5-0 run and took the momentum of the set, 17-14. The remainder of the set was even, both teams scoring a few times before the other. With the cougars already ahead and the Golden Bears not finishing enough plays, the cougars won set two and match point, 25-21.

Nine straight to start for the Cougars before a serving error in set three. An ace and a kill gave the Golden Bears two more but still trailed 9-3. Clark scored two more before WNE could score again. Clark had increased their lead to 12-4. Falling behind 9-0 to start hurt the Golden Bears. They hit a few two-point runs but would allow the Cougars to do the same. The Golden Bears forced it within two, 19-17. They never tied up the score or took a lead in the third set. They fell to the Cougars 25-20, 3-0.

Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears ended the match with 30 kills, 28 assists, 41 digs, and two Blocks while hitting .156 percent.
• The Cougars ended the match with 39 kill, 36 assists, 47 digs, and three blocks, while hitting .298 percent
• Sarah Scott led Western New England with nine kills, seven digs and one service ace.
• Yemayma Molina added with seven kills and two blocks.
• Liz Long contributed with 10 digs, and Hailey Sell had 22 assists.

 Up Next: The Golden Bears remain on the road for their next match and first conference game against the Nichols Bison, Tuesday, September 20, at 7:00 p.m.