SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 2, 2024) – The Western New England women's volleyball team did not waste any time on Wednesday night to take down their opponent, the winless Colonels of Curry College, defeating Curry in Conference of New England play, 3-0.

Records:

• Western New England: 11-3, 1-1 CNE
• Curry College: 0-13, 0-2 CNE

How It Happened:

Despite the zero victories on the season, the Colonels would put up a fight on the Golden Bears as both teams were seeking their first conference victory of the season heading into the match. To open the first set, Western New England grabbed the first two points as Isabelle Petty picked up a solo block while Alissa Hawes smashed down her first kill of the night from Taylor Geist, putting WNE ahead early. Curry would get right back in it, scoring the next three points, picking up a service aces by Abby Sousa and a kill from Lauryn Gedeon to give the Colonels a 3-2 lead. Western New England would take exception to the Curry lead, rattling off the next four points, picking up a kill from Hawes and Yemayma Molina, while Becca Mayer dropped down a service ace for WNE, giving the Golden Bears a 6-3 lead. Western New England's lead would reach as many as six after another WNE ace, this time by Taylor Geist, giving the Golden Bears a 10-4 lead. Curry would get themselves back into the match by scoring the next seven of nine points to trail by just one after Morgan Kramer dropped in a kill, moving the scoring to 12-11 in favor of WNE. The match would stay close, with Curry tying the match at 15, though the Golden Bears would begin to break away, picking up the next eight points in a row to take a 23-15 lead. Kills from Hawes, Geist, and Petty would give WNE the advantage, while excellent service from Léa Barber would give WNE a wrap of the opening set. Western New England would pick up a 25-19 victory in the opening set to take a 1-0 match lead. In the first set, the Golden Bears put down 12 kills and hit .320% as a team. WNE dropped down four service aces in the set.

Léa Barber opened the second set with a kill for Western New England, as the set would feature back-and-forth scoring from both teams. Alissa Hawes would drop down a kill to give WNE a 5-4 lead on a set assist from Taylor Geist. Western New England's lead would grow to as many as four at 9-5 after Leah Warren would come down with a kill while two service aces from Hawes would allow the Golden Bears to begin to surge. Curry would fith back, as they did multiple times throughout the night, though another big Western New England run would put the Golden Bears in front for good in the second set. Yemayma Molina would pick up four kills in the sequence that gave WNE a 17-12 lead. WNE would finish off the Colonels in the second set with back-to-back kills, one coming from Barber and the other to wrap up the set by Molina, who led Western New England with six kills in the set as the Golden Bears would pick up a 25-17 second set victory and take the 2-0 match lead. Curry picked up just five kills in the second set while WNE set down 13, hitting .241% overall. The Golden Bears would master their serve on the night, adding an additional four aces in the second set.

In the third set of the match, the Colonels would hang around early, in fact, picking up an 8-7 lead early on in the set, including picking up four points in a row after trailing 7-4. From there, Western New England picked up the next four points to take the lead at 11-8 when three Curry mistakes would cost the visitors to allow WNE's lead to grow. Curry would trail just by two at 13-11 after an attacking error by WNE, though five straight from the Golden Bears would be all the home team would need to start to feel a victory coming. Alissa Hawes, Becca Mayer, and Taylor Geist would all contribute on the Western New England run. Curry would attempt to get back into the match, though three straight attacking errors would put the visiting team behind again, this time by eight, which would be too much for the Colonels to come back from. WNE picked up the final kill of the night from Barber to come away with a 25-17 victory in the third set, winning the match by a final score of 3-0. WNE picked up eight kills in the third set victory while picking up three more service aces, finishing the night with 11 total.

Inside the Lines:

• Alissa Hawes dropped down 11 kills for Western New England, leading all players in the match. Hawes hit .261 from the floor for WNE overall.
• Yemayma Molina did not record an error while dropping down eight total kills, six coming in the second set, hitting .500% on 16 total attacks.
• Taylor Geist led Western New England with 22 set assists on the night. The senior came away with two service aces and two digs.
• The Colonels were led by Kyah Earls, who picked up nine kills on 26 total attacks.
• WNE has picked up 13 straight wins since joining the conference over Curry, including five straight 3-0 victories.

Coaches Corner:

• Matt Lein was pleased with his team's performance following the 3-0 victory on Wednesday night, quoting, "It is always nice to get the first conference win of the season under our belts. We are coming off a little sickness and injury this week, so that played a little bit of a factor tonight, but I am happy that we were able to play clean volleyball for the most part. Curry gave us a great test, but it is a great conference win for us."
• Yemayma Molina talked about her performance on the night, commenting on the importance of her teammates. "I feel like my teammates were the main factor in my performance. There was a lot of communication and support, and everyone did what they needed to do, so I just felt like I might as well do the same."

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England heads to John Jay College in New York, New York, for a non-conference tri-match with the Bloodhounds and Ramapo College. The first match of the tri match will take place at 1:00 PM on Saturday, October 5.