WNE Volleyball Picks Up Crucial CCC Win

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  (October 22, 2022) – The Western New England women's volleyball team hosted the Roger Williams Hawks for their Homecoming game where they defeated the Hawks 3-1 in CCC play.

• Western New England: 15-11, 3-4 CCC
• Roger Williams University: 5-18, 1-6 CCC

How It Happened: The Golden Bears and the Hawks battled in the beginning of the first set. The Hawks scored first but the Golden Bears caught up. After a few tie scores, WNE took a small lead with a run that started with a kill from Yemayma Molina, a bad set from the Hawks, another kill from Sarah Scott, and a serving ace for a score 12-9. There were good volleys with varying scoring before the Golden Bears earned another run after a Hawks serving error to go up 17-12. WNE earned another series of points from an ace and a kill from Liz Long, and two kills from Scott to advance ahead eight points, 22-14. They let the Hawks score a couple more times, but WNE sealed the deal with two more kills, Molina and Scott, and an attack error from Roger Williams.

A kill an attack error started it off for WNE in set two, a serving error gave the Hawks their first score, that was followed by three kills and an ace from Alissa Hawes, Hailey Sell, Long, and Scott. Roger Williams fought to bring it within two, 6-4, but some errors bumped back up WNE's lead to six, 12-6. Roger Williams had many attack errors in this set, four of them in a row gave the Golden Bears a lead of 21-12. The Hawks scored on two more kills. It was out matched by a kill from Molina and one from Scott to win set two 25-14.

The Golden Bears got off to another big lead in set three. They scored the first four and after a Hawks two, they scored the next four to have a score of 8-2. Roger Williams battled back, but another four-point spirt brought the Golden Bears ahead 14-6. The momentum for the set switch from WNE to Roger Williams who forced the rest of the runs for the set. Three errors for the Golden Bears brought the Hawks within five. The Golden Bears scored two more, but it was followed by a Hawks four which had them only down three. Scott worked in another kill, and it was answered by two from Roger Williams who finally tied the set up at 18-18. The Golden Bears last score of the set was due to an attack error. Roger Williams won set three with seven straight points in a row to end it 25-19 after being down eight to the Golden Bears.

Set four had even playing for the first six points, majority of them being tied scores for the teams, until a series of seven from the Golden Bears, score 12-6, that gave them back the momentum. Every time the Hawks would score, the Golden Bears would score twice. The last Hawks score of the fourth set was on a kill. They were already down 20-12, and WNE finished scoring the five they needed in a row to defeat the Hawks in four sets, 3-1.

Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears concluded the match with 45 kills, 40 assists, 54 digs, and seven blocks while hitting .244 percent.
• The Hawks ended the match with 33 kills, 38 assists, 67 digs and one block, while hitting .040 percent
• Sarah Scott led the Golden Bears with 17 kills, 14 digs, one assist, one ace, and one assist.
• Alissa Hawes contributed with 15 digs, seven kills, four blocks, and one assist.
• Hailey Sell added 34 assist, nine digs, four kills and three aces.  Yemayma Molina added 10 kills.

Up Next: The Golden Bears continue with conference play for their next match-up against the Salve Regina Seahawks, on the road for a 7 p.m. game time.