BOSTON, Mass. (October 9, 2024) – The Western New England women's volleyball team saw themselves in a hole, down two sets to none, though would climb all the way back to even the match at two before falling in the fifth set by a score of 15-10, dropping the Conference of New England match by a final score of 3-2 to the hosting Rams of Suffolk University.

Records:

• Western New England: 13-4, 1-2 CNE
• Suffolk University: 16-4, 1-2 CNE

How it Happened:

In search of their second conference win of the season, the Golden Bears and hosting Rams of Suffolk University would go point for point to open the first 11 points of the match. Suffolk would pick up the first kill of the game while Alissa Hawes picked up a kill from Alyzza Alicea to get WNE on the board. Taylor Geist would be the next to score for the Golden Bears, putting WNE ahead 2-1. After Western New England's lead would disappear, Suffolk would take a lead at 8-7 on a kill from Chloe Clement. The Rams would put together five points in a row to take a five-point lead at 12-7. Suffolk would maintain their five-point lead on back-to-back kills from Suffolk's Sami Shore and McKenna Keowen to lead 16-11. Western New England would pick up two straight points to cut Suffolk's lead to three after Isabelle Petty would slam down a kill for the Golden Bears. Despite trailing and looking to mount a full comeback, the Golden Bears would fall short in their attempt, cutting Suffolk's lead down to 23-22, forcing a Rams timeout, though coming out of the timeout, Suffolk would come away with the next two points to finish off the set with a 25-22 opening set victory. WNE would pick up ten kills in the opening set while picking up seven attacking errors, hitting just .061% from the floor. The Golden Bears picked up six service errors in the opening set to fall behind early.

The second set of the match saw Suffolk get off to a quick 2-0 lead before the Golden Bears would capitalize on the next three points, seeing Yemayma Molina drop two kills while Alissa Hawes would fly high for the Golden Bears, giving WNE a 3-2 lead. From there, Suffolk would begin a stretch run that saw four straight points go the Rams' way, leading 9-5. Suffolk would continue to take it to Western New England, seeing the lead increase to 14-7. A service error would get the Golden Bears on the board, though from there, Suffolk would pick up the next ten points to bring the second set to set points at 24-8. A block by Molina and a kill from Hawes would put the Golden Bears on the board again, though Suffolk would end the set with the 25^th point in the set, a service error by Western New England, giving Suffolk a 25-10 second set win and a 2-0 match lead. Western New England made 11 attacking errors in the second set and put down just six kills.

Looking to bounce back in the third set, Western New England would lead with the first two of three points in the set, seeing Yemayma Molina drop another kill for the Golden Bears. Suffolk would take their first lead in the third set at 4-3 and again at 5-4, though Western New England would begin to build their first run of the match at 6-6, scoring seven straight points to take a 12-6 lead. In the run, Léa Barber would open with a kill, and Barber and Molina would combine for a block. Three straight service aces for the Golden Bears would see a 10-6 lead come through, while the run would end on a Barber kill and set error from Suffolk to see a six-point lead come about for WNE. The Golden Bears would continue to take it to the Rams in the third set. Taylor Geist would pick up a kill to see Western New England's lead get back to four after a small Rams comeback. The blue and gold would pick up four straight points, taking advantage of three Suffolk attacking errors, while Léa Barber would collect a kill from Taylor Geist, giving WNE a 20-13 lead, forcing a timeout from Suffolk. The Golden Bears would continue to fly high in the third set, picking up service aces from Laney Melvin while Barber and Molina would pick up kills to give WNE a 23-16 lead. Western New England closed out the third set with a victory, picking up a much-needed win in the set after Isabelle Petty would put down the final kill of the set to lead the Golden Bears to a 25-16 set victory. Suffolk would lead two sets to one after three sets. The Golden Bears would hit .273% in the third set, their highest percentage thus far while putting down 13 kills. Léa Barber led WNE with four kills in the set.

The Rams got off to a quick 3-0 start in the fourth set, seeing a kill from Sami Shore, a service ace from Jayla Martinez, and an attacking error from WNE to put the Rams ahead early. Western New England would pick up the next three of four points to get right back into the set as Barber, Alissa Hawes, and Becca Mayer would help the Golden Bears pick up points. McKenna Keowen would put Suffolk ahead by two points again at 6-4 before the Golden Bears would tie up the set at six and then take a lead on back-to-back attacking errors by the Rams. Western New England would then build a two-point lead of their own after Isabelle Petty would pick up another kill in the match on another set assist from Taylor Geist. Suffolk would then rip off the next four points in the match, putting the Golden Bears on their heels as the Rams dropped three kills in the run. WNE would get back into the match, tying it at 14-all after Alissa Hawes would pick up a kill. Suffolk would drop the next two points to take a two-point lead, 16-14. The two teams would go point for point again, seeing Suffolk hang on to their two-point lead at 18-16. The Golden Bears would even the match at 19 and take a two-point lead at 21-19 after five straight points for Western New England. Yemayma Molina, Léa Barber, and Alyzza Alicea would pick up important points to help the Golden Bears lead late in the set. Alissa Hawes would get the Golden Bears to set point, 24-21, as WNE looked to put away the Rams and force a fifth set after being down two sets to none. Suffolk's Sami Shore would extend the set, picking up a kill, putting the match to 24-22. Alissa Hawes would not let the set move any further, putting down a massive kill from Taylor Geist to move the match into a fifth and final set. In the fourth set, Western New England would hit.195% as a team, putting down 13 kills on 41 total attacks. WNE collected four service aces in the set and two blocks.

Léa Barber opened the fifth and final set of the match with a service ace to get the Golden Bears off to a good start. Suffolk would answer with the next four points to take a 4-1 lead, grabbing three kills in the sequence. Hawes would stop the Suffolk run for just a moment, will a kill, though Suffolk would continue to put up points, taking as high as a five-point lead in the set at 8-3 when McKenna Kwowen would pick up a kill. The Golden Bears would fight back, picking up four straight points, seeing Rachel Critz and Yemayma Molina pick up kills, while the two would then combine for a block. Léa Barber would finish WNE's run with a kill, which got the blue and gold right back into the match, seeing Suffolk lead 9-8. The Rams would see their lead grow back up to four, 13-9, after an attacking error from WNE. Suffolk would become just two points away from taking the match. Suffolk would waste little time in putting away the Golden Bears in the fifth set, taking a 15-10 victory, winning the CNE match by a final score of 3-2.

Coaches Corner:

• When asked about some of the positive and negative takeaways from Wednesday's conference match, Head Coach Matt Lein said, "I think we all just knew that we were capable of being better than what we were showing. The third and fourth sets are certainly more what we are capable of."
• When looking ahead to this weekend's tri-match at Eastern Connecticut, Lein said he would be looking to improve upon a few different areas. "Just have to minimize our errors. Errors plagued us tonight, especially in some long rallies. We have to find ways to stay confident even when we're tired."

Inside the Lines:

• Nine of Suffolk's 15 points in the fifth set would come on kills as the Rams would hit. 241%. Western New England put down seven kills in the final set though collected five attacking errors to cost the visitors the match.
• Overall, Western New England hit.087 in the match, struggling mightily in the first and second sets overall before coming alive in the third and fourth sets.
• Alissa Hawes led WNE with 15 kills in the match, attacking 51 times, hitting .255%.
• Léa Barber notched 11 kills for Western New England in the match while also picking up 14 digs.
• Taylor Geist led all players with 36 set assists in the match.
• The Golden Bears fall to 0-2 in five set matches this season.
• Suffolk has defeated Western New England in five straight matches, two of which have gone the distance, and four of the last five have gone at least four sets.
• WNE falls to 1-2 in Conference of New England play.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears head to Eastern Connecticut State University for a tri-match with the Warriors and Castleton University beginning at 2:00 PM.