Box Score AMHERST, Mass.--Senior Kasey Cameron spiked a career-high 17 kills and hit .410 to lead all attackers in both categories, but it wasn't enough for the Western New England women's volleyball team to overcome a struggling serve-receive game in a 25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 25-23 non-conference loss to host Amherst at LeFrak Gymnasium. The Golden Bears fall to 15-7 on the season while the Lord Jeffs up their record to 13-4.

Junior Olivia Lathrop added 10 kills for the Golden Bears, who outhit Amherst .163 to .148 for the match. Sophomore setters Jessica Sincero (3 kills) and Jenna Leuck (2) directed the offense with 18 and 16 assists, respectively.

Maggie Danner paced Amherst with 16 kills (.250) on a match-high 48 attack attempts and Nicole Gould added 11 (.226). Nicole Carter contributed 25 assists, served up five aces and added 15 digs, while Kate Bres dished out 14 helpers and chipped in seven digs.

The Golden Bears played terrific defense as four student-athletes reached double-digits, led by a match-high-tying 24 from senior All-America libero Grace Kucharski. Senior Kendra Ouimette added 18 digs, followed by Sincero with 14 and Leuck had 12.

Katie Warshaw matched Kucharski with 24 digs for Amherst, who also got 15 from Carter and 14 by Asha Walker.

In the opening set, Amherst opened up an early 13-6 lead on a kill by Gould before Western New England responded with a string of four straight points highlighted by a Cameron kill and a service ace from Ouimette to pull the Golden Bears to within three at 13-10. Western New England then pulled to within two (17-15) following a Jeffs' attacking error before a 4-0 run extended the Purple & White's cushion to 21-15, capped by an ace from Kelci Keeno.

The Golden Bears answered with a 5-1 run of their own to pull the visitors to within 22-20. After a Gould kill pushed the Amherst lead to 24-21, Cameron kept Western New England in the set, but a kill by Marialexa Natsis sealed the 25-22 win.

After battling to 13 ties and seven lead changes in the second frame, the Golden Bears broke an 18-18 deadlock when Cameron registered back-to-back kills. An attacking error by the Jeffs and an assisted block by freshman Carly Skibinski (6 kills) and Sincero lifted the Western New England advantage to 22-18. A kill by Annika Reczek, a Golden Bears' miscue, and a kill by Gould highlighted a 3-1 run for Amherst to again pull the Purple & White to within two at 23-21, but Skibinski and senior Carolyn Hajdusek provided consecutive kills to give Western New England a 25-21 win in the frame and level the match 1-1.

The third set saw Amherst sprint to a 13-4 lead before the Golden Bears responded with an 8-2 run of their own to pull the visitors to within three at 15-12 following a service ace by Cameron. That's as close as they would get as Amherst scored seven unanswered points to set the score at 21-12 and pulled away to a 25-16 victory in the frame and take a 2-1 lead in the contest.

With Amherst leading 24-21 in the fourth stanza following a kill by Gould, Western New England used an attacking error by the Jeffs and Cameron served up an ace to pull the Golden Bears to within one at 24-23, but an attacking error by the visitors on the ensuing play secured the 3-1 victory for the Purple & White.Despite outhitting the Lord Jeffs, especially over the first two sets, the Golden Bears were doomed by 11 service errors and nine reception faults.

Western New England will host Commonwealth Coast Conference opponent Eastern Nazarene at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house.

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