Box Score NEWPORT, R.I.--Two-time reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week Grace Kucharski led all players with 17 digs for Western New England, but the Golden Bears' offense couldn't get on track in a 25-15, 25-19, 25-21 loss to host Salve Regina at the Rodgers Recreation Center on Tuesday evening. The Seahawks improve to 24-3 on the season and sit atop the CCC women's volleyball standings with a 7-1 conference mark, while WNE slips to 19-8 overall and 4-3 in the CCC.

Tyler Singh tried to get the WNE offense in sync with a match-tying-best nine kills (.333 attack percentage), but the Golden Bears hit just .038 in the opening set en route to a .100 percentage for the match. Carolyn Hajdusek added five kills on 10 swings (.500) and Devyn Frank matched her with five put-downs.

Jennifer Duggan paced the Seahawks with nine kills (.226), followed by Jill Diffendaffer (.545) and Clare Adams (.208) with seven apiece. Salve Regina attacked with a .260 efficiency, spiking 34 kills on just eight hitting errors in 100 attempts. Setter Taylor Violet dished 26 assists.

Diffendaffer added three blocks while Dianna Tauro and Adams contributed to the Seahawks' defense with 11 digs apiece, and Duggan contributed 10.

In the first set, WNE took a 2-0 lead on kill by Singh and service ace from Kucharski. Salve Regina led 8-5 before WNE scored three unanswered points on a pair of Kelsey Armstrong kills sandwiched around another from Singh to knot the score at 8. But a Golden Bear service error on the next point put Salve in the lead for good, igniting a 17-7 run to end the set.

Kasey Cameron had a kill to open the second set for WNE, but Salve seized control with five straight points--which included three Golden Bear attack errors--and never looked back in the stanza. Western New England fought back to within one point at 10-9, 11-10 and 12-11, but couldn't get any momentum going its way.

In the third set, WNE started with a 3-1 lead on Marissa Wilson's only kill of the match and led 6-5 before Salve took advantage of four Golden Bear hitting errors during a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead at 12-6. The Seahawks led for the rest of the way.

"We struggled with our ball control all night and weren't able to overcome that," WNE coach Bret Stothart said. "The loss is disappointing considering the opportunity to put ourselves in a good position heading into playoffs next week."

Western New England returns to action on Thursday for a home date with non-conference opponent Worcester State, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Healthful Living Center (AHLC).