SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 6, 2023) – Western New England women's volleyball setters Hailey Sell and Taylor Geist were honored prior to the first set of Friday's non-conference match for their 1,000 assist accomplishments, while the Golden Bears swept the Lyons of Mount Holyoke College in a closely contested three-set match.

Records:

• Western New England: 7-8
• Mount Holyoke College: 8-9

How it Happened:
Mount Holyoke gained the early lead in the first set, taking a 5-2 advantage before Western New England would find their offensive game. Yemayma Molina and Ella Soutter would get on the board early with kills for the Golden Bears, as Western New England would take their first lead of the match at 2-1 and then not again until 14-13. Western New England scored seven of eight points during that stretch, extending their lead by three at 16-13 when Elizabeth Long and Alissa Hawes got Western New England points. A five-point Golden Bears lead would quickly dip when Mount Holyoke went on a 3-0 run to get within two points of the lead. Western New England would get the momentum back and would finish up the first set as Isabelle Petty would get WNE over the hump, taking the first set 25-21.

In a tight second set, Western New England jumped out to a 6-3 lead, getting four points in a row off kills from Ella Soutter and Isabelle Petty, while Becca Mayer would assist on serve with a service ace to give WNE the lead. Mount Holyoke would grab five straight points to flip the score, seeing WNE's 9-5 lead move to 10-9 in favor of the Lyons. A back-and-forth second set would see Western New England retake the lead at 14-13 and again at 16-16. Down the stretch, Mount Holyoke would take a 22-20 lead before a 3-0 lead for the Golden Bears would get WNE ahead 23-22. Ella Soutter and Alissa Hawes would finish the second set for the Golden Bears as Mount Holyoke would save set point once but could not do it for a second time as WNE would take the second set in extra time, 27-25.

Western New England raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third set when Hailey Sell helped Western New England on serve as Sell recorded a service ace while teammate Yemayma Molian grabbed a kill from Sell to help Western New England. WNE would lead by five points early when Leah Warren smashed one to the hardwood, taking a 10-5 lead. Mount Holyoke would tie the match down the stretch, grabbing four straight points to even the score at 20. The Lyons would see a kill to again even the score at 23-23 before kills from Ella Soutter and Alissa Hawes would finish off the match for the blue and gold, taking the 25-23 third set victory and the 3-0 match win 

Inside the Lines:

• Alissa Hawes and Ella Soutter both helped Western New England in the match, collecting 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
• Hailey Sell recorded 21 assists to lead all Golden Bears.
• WNE hit at a.171 clip in the match, while Mount Holyoke fell under a.100 clip.
• The Golden Bears and Lyons both recorded three total full blocks, with Yemayma Molina leading the way for WNE.
• WNE has now won eight straight over MHC, including the last three matches by a score of 3-0.
• With the win, WNE wraps up their non-conference schedule this season.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE returns to CCC play on Wednesday, October 11 at 7:00 PM when Suffolk University visits the Alumni Healthful Living Center.