Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Junior Olivia Lathrop tied her Western New England career-high of 16 kills and hit .312, and senior Grace Kucharski contributed 25 digs, but visiting Western Connecticut State came away victorious in a five-set thriller in Friday evening's opening round of the WNE Women's Volleyball Invitational at the Alumni Healthful Living Center. The Colonials remain unbeaten on the season at 6-0 after the 23-25, 25-23, 25-15, 24-26, 15-10 win, while the Golden Bears drop to 3-2 and see their six-match Invitational win streak come to an end.

Jaqueline Kanuk led WCSU with a match-best 19 kills, Karissa Smith had 16 and Cady Cordes, 10. Smith and Cordes completed double doubles with 13 and 12 digs, respectively. Libero Nina Wojtkiewicz led all players with 32 digs.

Junior Kelsey Armstrong helped the WNE offense with 13 kills and senior Carolyn Hajdusek added nine kills and a .429 attack percentage on 21 attempts. Sophomore setter Jessica Sincero had a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs.

In the decisive set, the teams traded the first eight points before a ball handling error by Smith gave the Golden Bears their second lead in the frame. But a Kanuk kill tied it a 5-all and then the Colonials took advantage of two WNE errors to take the lead for good. Western Connecticut scored 11 of the final 17 points to seal the win.

Western New England forced a fifth set in exciting fashion by overcoming a 24-22 deficit and facing the prospect of losing in four sets. Following a WNE timeout, Armstrong spiked two kills on back-to-back points to tie it at 24-all. Then a Kanuk hitting error gave WNE its first lead in the frame since 21-20. Hajdusek, who subbed in when the Golden Bears trailed 24-23, finished it off with a kill and 26-24 win.

In the third set, WCSU jumped out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back while never trailing. The Colonials outhit the Golden Bears .256 to .143 to forge a 2-sets-to-1 advantage, 25-15.

Both teams blew leads to trade 25-23 scores in the first two frames. In the opener, WCSU led 22-17 at one point before Lathrop (3 kills) and Armstrong (2) sparked the rally as WNE also took advantage of some Colonials errors to go on an 8-1 run down the stretch.

The Golden Bears, however, were unable to sustain that momentum in the second. Things started well enough by racing to a 5-1 lead and eventually going up 20-12. Kranuk ignited the comeback with the first of her three kills during a 13-3 run the rest of the way, which included seven WNE errors via attack, reception or serve.

Western New England's last loss in the Invitational before tonight came against these same Colonials on Sep. 10, 2011, in four sets.

In the other first round match, Smith swept Elms 25-15, 25-14, 25-19. Statistics are not yet available from this match.

The Golden Bears concluded Invitational play on Saturday with matches against Elms (11 a.m.) and Smith (1 p.m.).