BEVERLY, Mass. (October 24, 2015) - The Western New England University volleyball team dropped a pair of 3-1 decisions today, falling to Endicott College (25-17, 18-25, 25-21, 25-15) in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, before suffering a non-conference setback to Colby College (25-14, 25-20, 24-26, 25-21) in a tri-match at Endicott's MacDonald Gymnasium.
 
Endicott 3, Western New England 1
Sophomore middle hitter Carly Skibinski (Milford, N.J.) led the Golden Bears in today's opener, hitting .242 with a team-best 14 kills and four digs. Senior Kelsey Armstrong (Groton, Conn.) added ten kills, while sophomore Alona Kornberg (Fair Lawn, N.J.) finished with eight kills, 13 digs, and three service aces.
 
Junior setter Jenna Leuck (Dumont, N.J.) registered Western New England's only double-double of the day with 22 assists and 11 digs, and freshman libero Emily Woodford (Belchertown, Mass.) led all players with 25 digs.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) turned in a strong all-around effort for Endicott (17-8, 3-2 CCC), finishing with 16 digs, ten kills, and a pair of blocks. Junior Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) added seven kills and seven digs for the Gulls.
 
Western New England fell victim to Endicott's .389 hitting percentage in the opening set, before rebounding with a seven-point win in the second frame. The Golden Bears enjoyed a strong start in the third set, leading 8-5 following a kill by sophomore Brianna Roath (Jackson, N.J.), but a 7-0 Endicott run turned the tide as the home team claimed a 12-8 lead.
 
The Golden Bears continued to battle, however, regaining a two-point edge (18-16) late following a 4-0 streak. The back-and-forth continued with Endicott going back up by one (19-18) on a Western New England attack error, and the Golden Bears tying the match at 20 on a kill by Kornberg. The Gulls pulled away late, however, winning five of the last six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Needing a fourth set win to extend the match, Western New England dropped the first four points of the frame. Endicott built its advantage up to eight (11-3) and didn't let it fall below three the rest of the way, closing out the contest with a 7-0 run.
 
Colby 3, Western New England 1
Senior middle hitter Olivia Lathrop (Farmington, Conn.) powered the Western New England offense in the second contest of the day, piling up a match-high 14 kills to go with a pair of block assists.
 
Skibinski turned in another solid performance with eight kills and three blocks (one solo), while Kornberg and freshman libero Johanna Harrison (North Kingstown, R.I.) led the defensive effort, combining for 35 digs.
 
Sophomore Emily Moslener (Leonardtown, Md.) and freshman Molly Manuel (Andover, Mass.) ran a balanced Colby offense with 16 and 15 assists, respectively, while freshman Paige Hanssen (Earlysville, Va.) finished with seven kills, six digs, five aces and a pair of block assists.
 
Colby (13-10) jumped out to a 2-0 set lead, and appeared to be on its way to a 3-0 sweep with a 22-16 lead late in the third frame. A service error followed by a kill from Leuck sparked a 5-0 Western New England run, however, as the Golden Bears pulled back to within a point (22-21).
 
Western New England eventually tied the set on an error by Moslener, before pulling ahead on Leuck's ace. After the Mules tied the score (24-24) one final time, a kill from freshman middle hitter Cheyenne Garcia (Dover, N.H.) followed by a Colby attack error ended the set in favor of the Golden Bears.
 
Western New England led by as many as five (15-10) midway through the fourth frame, before Colby mounted a late charge and pulled ahead (20-19) on a Golden Bear attack error. Lathrop leveled the score with her 13^th kill of the match, but the Mules won five of the final six points to close out the contest.
 
Western New England (10-12, 3-3 CCC) will look to bounce back next week, as the Golden Bears return to the Alumni Healthful Living Center for their final three matches of the regular season, beginning with a CCC contest against Curry College on Tuesday night.