SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 11, 2023) – The Western New England women's volleyball team dropped a home CCC match on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Rams of Suffolk University by a final score of 3-1.
Records:
- Western New England: 7-9, 1-1 CCC
- Suffolk University: 12-7, 3-0 CCC
How it Happened:
Suffolk cruised over Western New England in the opening set, scoring seven of the nine opening points in the match.
Ella Soutter would get WNE their first kill of the match, though the Golden Bears would fall behind quickly, seeing Suffolk grab ten of 11 points to take a 13-3 lead early. Western New England would never recover, seeing Suffolk go on another 5-0 run at 17-8 to take a 22-8 lead. The Rams capped off a first-set win with a kill, defeating WNE 25-14.
The Golden Bears would come around and respond in the second set, grabbing six of the opening eight points in the second set. Haley Sell grabbed a service ace for Western New England to open the set, while
Yemayma Molina and
Isabelle Petty would record kills to help Western New England get off to a quick start in the set. The teams would exchange points through the middle of the set while the Rams would come around and take their first lead of the second set at 16-15 while extending their lead to as many as five, leading 21-16. Western New England would mount a comeback in the second set when
Leah Warren,
Ella Soutter, and
Alissa Hawes all grabbed kills. The Golden Bears would finish the second set by winning eight of nine points, saving set points from the Rams once.
Ava Cariddi would get on the board with the final two kills of the set for Western New England, as WNE took the 27-25 win.
Suffolk came out firing in the third set, winning the first five points of the set. The Golden Bears would mount a comeback from there, getting kills from
Yemayma Molina and
Alissa Hawes, while
Hailey Sell would record another service ace to get WNE back within one point. The Rams would jump ahead by seven, going on a 5-0 run at 10-8 to take a 15-8 lead. Suffolk would pace their way to victory in the third set, grabbing a 25-16 win.
A series of runs in the fourth set would decide the match, as the Rams would outlast the Golden Bears to take the final set of the match. Western New England started with a 4-3 lead, guided by a service ace from
Becca Mayer, before the Rams would turn around and score seven straight points to take a 13-7 lead. WNE would return the run, going on a 6-1 run on kills from
Yemayma Molina,
Isabelle Petty,
Alissa Hawes, and
Leah Warren. Suffolk would again make a run, scoring nine of 11 points to take a 23-15 lead. The Golden Bears would attempt a comeback, getting within two points of the lead, though Suffolk would close out the final point of the match with a kill, taking a 25-23 fourth set win and a 3-1 match victory.
Inside the Lines:
- Western New England recorded 37 kills to Suffolk's 53, while the Golden Bears made 28 errors in the match, hitting at a.050 clip.
- Suffolk recorded 11 blocks in the match, while WNE picked up three.
- Alissa Hawes led WNE with ten kills.
Up Next on the Schedule:
- WNE travels to Roger Williams University on Saturday, October 14 at 1:00 PM for a CCC showdown.
