SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 7, 2023) – The Western New England women's volleyball team defeated the sixth-seeded Roger Williams University from the Alumni Healthful Living Center on Tuesday evening to advance to the CCC semifinals, taking down the Hawks 3-0.

Records:

• Western New England: 12–11
• Roger Williams University: 8-16

How it Happened:
The first 20 points of the night would go back and forth in the first set. Western New England's Leah Warren recorded an early kill as the Golden Bears got ahead of the Hawks 3-1. RWU would come back with three points of their own when Jillian Smith sent down two kills to help give Roger Williams a lead. Neither team would take more than a two-point lead until Western New England got a kill from Yemayma Molina to go up 12-9. WNE would put together a huge run in the first set, seeing Roger Williams score just four points in the final 16 points of the set as Western New England cruised to an opening set win of 25-14. Ella Soutter, Alissa Hawes, and Isabelle Petty would all record kills for the Golden Bears in the opening set.

Elizabeth Long got WNE on the board in the second set, while the first four points of the set would come via kills for the Golden Bears. Ava Cariddi and Alissa Hawes would contribute on the offensive end for the Golden Bears. Roger Williams came back with four points of their own to take a one-point lead at 6-5 before the Golden Bears would come back for three straight points on errors from Roger Williams. RWU would erase Western New England's 13-10 lead and take a 14-13 lead before four straight points for the blue and gold would get the Golden Bears ahead by three again. Western New England would close out the second set with a Taylor Geist service ace, sending WNE to a 2-0 lead in the match and a 25-21 second set victory.

Roger Williams opened the third set of the match with the first three points before Western New England ran the score to 7-3, grabbing seven straight points. Isabella Procida's service would bring six straight Golden Bears points, while Leah Warren, Yemayma Molina, and Alissa Hawes would record kills. Roger Williams would grab four straight points following the 7-0 run from WNE, evening the match at seven. After going back and forth and seeing the score even at 11, Western New England would explode for a 9-0 run to take a 20-11 lead in the third set. RWU would record four attack errors to set the Hawks back in the match. Roger Williams would not go away quietly, however, as the Hawks would go on an 8-2 run of their own to get within two points, trailing 22-20. Yemayma Molina would interrupt the run for the Hawks, giving WNE a 23-20 lead. Roger Williams would chip away and take away WNE's chance to win the match, as the Hawks got a kill from Brianna Picchietti to even the score at 24. From there, Alissa Hawes and Elizabeth Long would end the match for Western New England, advancing the Golden Bears into the CCC semifinals for the third straight season, defeating RWU 26-24 in the third set and 3-0 in the match.

Inside the Box:

• WNE hit .171 as a team, including .233 in the first set. The Golden Bears recorded 32 kills in the match, grabbing 14 kills in the final set to grab the victory.
• Yemayma Molina recorded eight kills in the match to lead Western New England while also grabbing one block.
• WNE recorded nine service aces, with Isabella Procida recording three aces to lead WNE.
• Taylor Geist and Hailey Sell combined to record 28 assists in the match.
• Western New England has now won three straight over Roger Williams.
• This is the first time in program history that the Golden Bears have defeated the Hawks in straight sets in their 36 total meetings.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• No. 3 Western New England heads to No. 2 Endicott College on Thursday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. for the CCC semifinals match.