Box Score
BRISTOL, R.I.--Tyler Singh led a balanced Western New England attack with 14 kills as the Golden Bears upended three-time defending Commonwealth Coast Conference women's volleyball champion Roger Williams on Wednesday at the RWU Campus Recreation Center, snapping the Hawks' 27-match conference winning streak that spanned three seasons. With the 25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 25-15 win, the Golden Bears (21-5 overall) move into a first-place tie with RWU (17-10) atop the CCC standings with identical 6-1 slates.
The Hawks' last CCC loss came on Oct. 17, 2009, when then-member Colby-Sawyer defeated the Hawks 3-2. In addition, the loss snaps a 29-match home winning streak, dating back to 2010. Western New England also got its first win in the series since Sept. 19, 2009 by a 3-1 score.
Including Singh (.444), Western New England had five players with at least six kills:
Emily McGran with 11 (.458),
Devyn Frank had 10,
Inna Sergeychik made seven and
Maureen Pollet, six. Despite hitting .160, the Golden Bears had 10 more kills than RWU (55 to 45) and kept a lot of balls in play with 90 digs.
Kelsey Twarog paced RWU with a match-best 15 kills and she hit .324, followed by Krystie Luczynski (.364) as the only other Hawk in double figures with 10.
After falling behind 3-0 in the opening set, WNE went on a five-point run that included a pair of Singh kills. After the Hawks briefly regained the lead at 8-7, a kill by
Heather Mears and a RWU attack error put the visitors up for good on the way to the two-point in the frame.
Mears ended up with five kills, 45 assists, seven digs and two blocks.
Western New England responded well late in the match after RWU took the second set on a .348 attack percentage to even the score. In the third set, Singh connected for three consecutive kills to help turn a 7-4 deficit into a 9-7 lead as the Golden Bears kept ahead for most of the match--save a RWU 20-19 advantage. Then in the fourth, WNE outhit RWU .225 to .024 and never trailed in the decisive stanza.
Defensively, Sergeychik had a WNE-best 21 digs to go along with
Grace Kucharski, who had 17. Frank easily notched a career-high of 14 and
Jennifer Mears contributed 10. For the Hawks, Kelsee Loche notched a match-high 21 digs, Elizabeth Flaherty recorded 15 and Tess Powell, 13.
Western New England can clinch the regular-season title and the top seed in the CCC Tournament with a win Saturday at home versus Endicott.
(Editor's Note: Text was added to this copy at 9:32 a.m. on Oct. 25, 2012.)
