Golden Bear Volleyball Comes Up Short at Keene State

KEENE, N.H.  (October 20, 2022) – The Western New England women's volleyball team was hosted by the Keene State College Owls, the Golden Bears fell short to the Owls, losing 3-0 in non-conference play.

• Western New England: 14-11
• Keene St. College: 8-13

 How It Happened: A ball handling error gave Keene St. their first point of the set who went 3-0 before WNE got on the board. The Golden Bears work their way to a tie score at 5-5, and then a serve out of bounds and a ball handling error put the Owls ahead by two. Then is became a competitive game of ties and lead changes. Two kills from Sarah Scott and Yemayma Molina put Golden Bears ahead by one. A serving error and an ace brought the Owls ahead. Another kill from Scott and an Owls attack error tied the score for WNE and a small run for the Owls gave them a three-point lead, 17-14. Battling, the Golden Bears had it even again at 19-19 and again at 20. It was a fight until the end with teams trading kills. Two in a row for the Owls won them the set 25-23.

The Golden Bears started ahead 2-0 after an attack error and a serving ace from Liz Long. Keene State returned the kills, and WNE had three straight to lead 5-2. Again, the Owls had it tied up again. A kill and an ace from Scott gave the Golden Bears another three-point advantage and a serving error gave Keene the ball back to their side of their net. After scoring went back-and-forth, WNE went for another three in a row to take their lead 14-9, and the Owls closed the gap within two 14-12. Set two, keeping up with set one was very competitive and after a few tied scores, the Owls took a one-point lead late in the set 21-20. A ball handling error for Keene evened the score once again. An attack error for the Golden Bears and two kill gave Keene the advantage with set point. Two kills from Scott kept WNE in the set, and an Owls Kill finished out the set 25-23 and Keene State with match-point.

Keene got off to a 7-0 start to begin set three. A Scott kill and Long ace broke up the Owls scoring streak, but two errors for WNE but the Owls back ahead by seven. Scott picked up two more kills, Keene kept getting scoring chances with a 5-0 run to take a 13-4 lead. Alissa Hawes snuck down a kill, but by now the Owls had a 11-point lead, 16-5. They held on to a double-digit lead until a small run after a kill from Scott, and attack error, and an ace from Taylor Geist to bring the score to 20-13. After a Golden Bears had another attack error, they fought out four in a row to comeback in the set 21-16. The Golden Bears earned one more kill and a point from a bad set. The Owls finished out the set with all kills to win, 25-19, and won the game 3-0.

 Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears concluded the match with 38 kills, 30 assists, 53 digs while hitting .159 percent.
• The Owls ended the match with 41 kills, 38 assists, 67 digs and one block, while hitting .222 percent
• Sarah Scott led the Golden Bears with 15 kills, seven digs, and two serving aces.
• Taylor Geist contributed with 29 assists, six digs, five kills, and one ace.
• At libero, Becca Mayer had 20 digs and one assists.

Up Next: The Golden Bears will be hosting the Roger Williams Hawks this Saturday, October 22, for their Homecoming Weekend game that will start at 12:00 p.m.