Box Score QUINCY, Mass.--Regionally-ranked Western New England proved its mettle on Wednesday evening by coming back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat host Eastern Nazarene in a five-set thriller, 25-27, 24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 15-12, in Commonwealth Coast Conference women's volleyball action at the Lahue Physical Education Center. The Golden Bears improve to 14-5 overall, 6-2 on the road and 2-2 in the CCC, while the Lions slip to 9-13 on the season and 0-3 in the conference.

"Eastern Nazarene played an outstanding match and took advantage of our slow start. (But) we continued fighting and showed some grit when our backs were against the wall," Western New England coach Bret Stothart said. "It was an exciting comeback but we need to learn to play at the same high level whether we're down, even or ahead on the scoreboard. Our level of focus, teamwork, aggressiveness and confidence cannot waiver based on the score or our opponent. It is a critical piece for us to be successful and hopefully we grow as a team with this win and continue to improve."

Sophomore Kelsey Armstrong led a WNE trio in double figures with 11 kills (.200), followed by seniors Devyn Frank (.286) and Maureen Pollet (.192) with 10 apiece. Grace Kucharski added a match-high 18 digs, and Pollet contributed 10 to complete the Golden Bears' lone double-double.

Three Eastern Nazarene players posted double-doubles: Cayla Clinkscale led the way with a match-best 16 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and three service aces, and Kortney Jenkins and Hannah Welsh each tallied 15 kills and 13 digs. Vanessa Pascal notched a team-high 17 digs while setter Lauryl Berger registered 43 assists.

In the deciding fifth set, Eastern Nazarene seized an early 5-3 edge on a WNE service error. Western New England evened the score at 7-7 on an ace from Frank. After the Lions reclaimed an 11-9 lead, the Golden Bears rallied to knot up the set at 11-11 on kills by Carolyn Hajdusek (7 kills, .312) and Tyler Singh (6, .267). Taking advantage of two Lions attack errors sandwiched between kills by Hajdusek and another on match-point from Pollet, the Golden Bears earned four of the final five points to seal the road victory.

When it counted most, WNE spiked 10 kills against just three errors on 22 attempts for a .318 attack percentage in the final stanza. Eastern Nazarene had a .043 clip after starting .222 and .250 in the first two sets.

The two sides battled evenly in the first set as neither team gained a large lead. The Golden Bears built a 15-10 margin but Eastern Nazarene responded with four straight points to cut the deficit to 15-14. After the visitors went ahead 24-23, the Lions answered with an equalizer as Welsh knocked down a kill. Western New England bounced back to lead 25-24 but Eastern Nazarene rallied to pick up the final three points of the frame as Jenkins notched a kill and Welsh tallied the final two kills.

The Golden Bears opened the second set with a 9-3 run before the Lions clawed back with three consecutive service aces by Sam Losano, narrowing the margin to 9-7. The home team extended a lead to 17-12 with four unanswered points. The visitors knotted the score at 24-24 with back-to-back points before a Jenkins kill and WNE attack error closed out the set for a 2-0 Eastern Nazarene match lead.
 
Western New England began its furious comeback by racing out to 4-0 advantage in the third set and would not relinquish the lead to pull within 2-1 in sets, 25-17. A Hajdusek kill and service ace from Kendra Ouimette started the rally, and the Golden Bears limited their attack errors to hit .320 in the stanza (12 kills, 4 errors, 25 swings).
 
The opening stages of the fourth set were evenly contested as the two sides were tied at 9-9. The Golden Bears went on a 9-4 run to push their lead to 18-13, fueled by two kills each by Singh and Pollet. Western New England eventually won the fourth set by out-hitting ENC .219 to .073, 25-18, to level the match 2-2 and setting the stage for the finale.
 
Up next, Western New England will have a week to regroup before facing Keene State out of the Little East Conference at home on Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house.

Eastern Nazarene will look to capture its first conference victory of the season as it hosts Wentworth on Oct. 15.

(Editor's note: Eastern Nazarene Athletics contributed to this event recap.)