BRISTOL, R.I. (October 14, 2023) – The Western New England women's volleyball team won their first two sets of the match on Saturday afternoon at hosting Roger Williams University before seeing the Hawks force a fifth set, where the Golden Bears came away with a massive 19-17 win to take the match 3-2, earning a key CCC victory.

Records:

• Western New England: 8-9, 2-1 CCC
• Roger Williams University: 6-11, 1-3 CCC

How it Happened:
Western New England would get an early kill from Yemayma Molina, as the blue and gold would get going in the first set early. Roger Williams would respond with six straight points to jump ahead 8-4 after exceptional serving from Emma Bosco for the Hawks. Alissa Hawes would deny the Hawks the opportunity to extend their lead, sending a thunderous kill to get WNE back on the board. Western New England would need to climb back into the first set and eventually would, evening the score at 15 after a 6-0 run of their own. Isabella Procida would help WNE on serve, while the Golden Bears would take advantage of attack errors by the Hawks. Western New England converted five of six points to grab their first lead since the early goings, as Isabelle Petty and Taylor Geist would help WNE take a 20-17 lead. Western New England would convert on match point, getting a kill from Elizabeth Long and grabbing a 1-0 match lead.

The second set would heavily favor the road team, as the Golden Bears would come out firing on all cylinders, not allowing the Hawks to take a single lead in the set. Western New England would extend their lead to seven at 10-3 when Yemayma Molina and Alissa Hawes were back on the scoreboard. The Golden Bears mounted a 13-point lead at 21-8, led by Rachel Critz, who sent down an important point for the Golden Bears to keep Western New England ahead. The Golden Bears wrapped up the final two points of the set when Iseblle Petty sent down a kill for WNE to help grab a 2-0 lead in the match.

In what looked like a match that would only need three sets to record a victory for the Golden Bears, Roger Williams would comeback late in the third set with a massive 10-0 run at 19-13, which turned to 22-19 in favor of Roger Williams as the Hawks took control. WNE would lead by four in the third set before Roger Williams would record 13 of the final 14 points in the set, sending the Hawks to a 25-20 third-set victory.

Western New England would look to recover in the fourth set, though they would see the Hawks come away with the victory after the Golden Bears were within two points of a match point and three points of a victory until Roger Williams grabbed three of the final four points and six of the last eight points to take a fourth set victory. Elizabeth Long, Yemayma Molina, Alissa Hawes, and Isabelle Petty would record kills in the fourth set, but it would not be enough as WNE would drop the fourth set, seeing RWU tie the match at two.

A back-and-forth fifth set would be the decider in the contest, with Roger Williams opening the deciding set with the first four of five points, taking a 4-1 lead. Western New England would even the score at five and take their first lead in the fifth set at 6-5 on attack errors from the Hawks. Roger Williams ripped off six of seven points to take a 10-7 lead and then again a four-point lead at 12-8. Western New England would complete the comeback evening the match at 12 on back-to-back service aces from Hailey Sell. The two teams would exchange points, with Roger Williams having a match point three times in the contest and the Golden Bears continuing to fight back. Leah Warren and Isabelle Petty would stave off match point, getting WNE back in the match. Western New England would get the final kill of the match at match point when Yemayama Molina slammed the ball to the floor, giving Western New England the 19-17 victory and picking up an important CCC win.

Inside the Box:

• After WNE took the opening two sets, RWU would fight back by winning the next two sets, before the Golden Bears fended off three match points for the Hawks to take a 3-2 CCC victory.
• WNE hit.159 as a team, grabbing 54 kills in the match.
• Taylor Geist (5), Hailey Sell (4), and Alissa Hawes (2) recorded service aces for Western New England on the afternoon.
• Isabelle Petty and Yemayma Molina led Western New England with 12 kills each.
• WNE has now won back-to-back matches against the Hawks in their all-time series meeting after losing 22 of the first 24 matches. WNE picks up just their second victory on the road at Roger Williams. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE stays on the road, meeting Curry College on Wednesday, October 18 at 6:00 PM.