DUDLEY, Mass. (October 23, 2024) – The Western New England women's volleyball team needed four sets to get past the hosting Bison of Nichols College on Wednesday evening, picking up their fifth straight win over Nichols all-time and fourth straight win this season, taking down Nichols 3-1.

Records:

• Western New England: 17-4, 3-2 CNE
• Nichols College: 4-17, 0-5 CNE

How it Happened:

The hosting Bison would pick up the first point of the match on an attacking error from Western New England that set forth the match. The Golden Bears picked up the next three points, seeing all of Léa Barber, Yemayma Molina, and Taylor Geist come away with kills for the Golden Bears. Molina would be on the board again for her second kill of the night to give WNE a 4-2 lead, which sparked a run of five straight points to go Western New England's way as Isabelle Petty would throw down a spike while Alissa Hawes would grab her first kill of the night. Western New England would continue to cruise in the opening set, seeing Geist pick up two straight service aces that saw WNE take a 12-3 lead. Nichols would fight back with five straight of their own, though the Golden Bears would keep the Bison tame, continuing to get excellent offensive play from Barber while Becca Mayer would lead the WNE women's volleyball team in digs in the first set. The Golden Bears would pick up a run of five of the final six points in the opening match, capped off by back-to-back solo blocks from both Petty and Hawes, as the blue and gold would be well on their way to an opening set win, taking it from the Bison 25-14. The opening set saw 13 kills for Western New England, who hit .237% from the floor while picking up three service aces and three blocks, and the opening set win.

Set two brought three straight points for WNE to open, as Léa Barber would serve two aces, while Yemayma Molina picked up a kill from Taylor Geist to give WNE a 3-0 lead. Western New England would continue that run that saw six of the first seven points in the set go the way of the visitors to open the second set with a 6-1 lead. Leah Warren would be on the board with a kill after Nichols would get back within three, putting the Golden Bears ahead 9-5. The Bison would close the gap again, getting within one, 11-10, after a Western New England attacking error. The teams would stay close until WNE would begin to pull away on a kill from Isabelle Petty, giving WNE a 17-13 lead. With a four-point lead heading at 22-18, Western New England would score the next three points to pick up the win. Taylor Geist would drop two service aces on the final two points of the set to give the Golden Bears a 25-18 second set win and a 2-0 match lead. Despite hitting just .069, five service errors for the Golden Bears would lead the way.

Nichols would maintain the lead to start the third set until the Golden Bears would tie the set at five on a kill from Alissa Hawes. WNE would not lead in the set, as the Bison would see Kya Burdier lead the way in the third set. The Bison would pick up four straight points to lead 15-9, seeing two service aces and two kills help the hosting Bison grab a big lead. Nichols would not back down despite being win-less in CNE play this season while picking up just one set win in four CNE matches. WNE would not get to complete the comeback in the third set as Nichols would put away WNE on a Melina Bezati kill to give the Bison a 25-21 set three victory. Western New England out-hit Nichols in the third set, dropping 13 kills to Nichols' 12, though four service errors by WNE and four service aces for Nichols would help the Bison come away with a third-set win.

The Bison would collect the first three points in the third set, picking up two early kills. Nichols would lead by as many as four early, taking a 6-2 lead on a service error from Western New England. WNE would storm back, however, picking up the next four points and getting a kill from both Isabelle Petty and Ava Cariddi to get WNE back in the match. WNE would take their first lead since the second set victory when Léa Barber would smash down a kill to give the Golden Bears an 8-7 lead. The match would continue to stay close as Nichols would come away with another run of four in a row, capped off by a block from Gabrielle McKayla. WNE would continue to climb back, seeing Alissa Hawes earn two straight kills to even the fourth set at 16. The match would again be tied at 20 after the Golden Bears would take advantage of three Nichols errors to get right back into the match. At 22-21 in favor of WNE, match would again be tied at 20 after the Golden Bears would take advantage of three Nichols errors to get right back into the match.  the next point would go Western New England's way, seeing a Nichols attacking error come around to put WNE ahead by two, forcing a timeout by the Bison. Nichols would pick up the next point, though WNE would close out the match with the next two points point of the fourth set to come away with the fourth set victory and the match victory. Alissa Hawes and Ava Cariddi would throw down the final two kills to lead WNE to a 3-1 win.

Inside the Lines:

• Yemayma Molina hit .240% from the floor in the four-set victory while picking up ten kills for Western New England.
• Alissa Hawes led WNE with 13 kills and 54 total attacks while picking up 18 digs in the win.
• Becca Mayer notched 20 digs for the Golden Bears while delivering three service aces and six set assists.
• Taylor Geist collected 34 set assists for the Golden Bears while collecting four total kills.
• Western New England hit .163% as a team and collected 78 digs, led by Mayer and Léa Barber, who both had 20 each.
• The Golden Bears improve to 9-1 all-time against Nichols, including wins in their last five matches.

Coaches Corner:

• When asked about key takeaways from tonight's match, Head Coach Matt Lein praised his teams effort in the first two sets and will look to build off that heading into their next match. "It was a lot of fun watching my team perform in the first two sets. Yesterday, we revisited some expectations of our program and I think that showed in the first two. Thankfully we played well enough to pull out the fourth as well."
• Looking ahead, Lein commented on Endicott's high powered offense, who WNE will face in their next CNE match this coming Saturday. "I think we match up well with Endicott. I think our blockers and defenders are up for the challenge and it can only make us better going into the rest of the season. I'm looking forward to a tough test for what should be a very exciting Saturday of volleyball."

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE heads to the CNE's unbeaten Endicott College on Saturday, October 26 at 1:00 PM.