Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The Western New England University women's volleyball team gave nationally No. 23-ranked Roger Williams University all it could handle on Wednesday evening, but the visiting four-time defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champion Hawks escaped the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house with a 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-19 victory.

Roger Williams--ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches' Association Division III Top 25 for the first time this season and No. 1 in New England--remains unbeaten at 17-0 overall and 2-0 in the CCC. The regionally No. 10-ranked Golden Bears have lost four straight after starting with a school-record 10-match winning streak; they are 0-1 in conference play.

Junior defensive specialist Grace Kucharski shined for the WNE with a match-best 20 digs. Kelsey Armstrong led the offense with 11 kills while hitting at a .370 clip, and Maureen Pollet added nine put-downs.

Elizabeth Flaherty (.258, 10 digs) and Brittany McMullen (.348, 4 blocks) led RWU with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Nicole Weber had 31 assists.

Things started well enough for the Golden Bears who had a boisterous crowd behind them by coming from behind in the first set to win by four points. Devyn Frank broke an 18-18 tie with a kill and Kasey Cameron followed with a service ace as part of an 8-0 run for a 24-18 lead. Armstrong's kill was set-point and WNE led the match 1-0.

Western New England also jumped out to a 19-11 lead in the second set before RWU started to regroup. The Hawks offense, which was struggling with many unforced hitting errors, got back on track and turned the tables on the Golden Bears' defense. Roger Williams won 14 of the next 17 points to take the set without committing any errors of any kind and finished on two service aces from Sarah McAniff, tying the match at 1-all.

The Golden Bears continued to fight but the RWU offense improved on its hitting percentage as the match progressed (.133-.212-.229-.276) and won the last two sets for the 3-1 triumph.