ONEONTA, N.Y. (August 30, 2024) – The Western New England women's volleyball team took all three of their matches at the Red Dragon Invitational over the weekend, today sweeping Mt. St. Mary University (N.Y.) while taking a four-set thriller, 3-1, over SUNY Oneonta to begin the season 3-0. 

Records:

• Western New England: 3-0
• Mt. St. Mary's (N.Y.) – 0-2
• SUNY Oneonta – 2-1

How it Happened (vs. Mt. St. Mary's (N.Y.): 

The Golden Bears would start in a tight battle with the Knights of Mt. St. Mary in the opening set, seeing the Knights take a two-point lead at 6-4 early. Both teams would trade points before the Golden Bears would find their footing, grabbing four straight points and six of the next right in the match to take the lead. Alissa Hawes would grab two kills and a service ace, while Taylor Geist would drop three aces in a row to help Western New England get right back into the match. The Golden Bears would tally five aces in the first set to help lead the way to an opening set win. After seeing the Knights even the score at 15, the Golden Bears would pummel Mt. St. Mary, going on a 9-2 scoring run to help extend their lead. Yemayma Molina would throw down a kill, while five bad sets by the Knights would help the Golden Bears win the first set 25-19. WNE's Isabelle Petty would drop down the final kill of the set on an assist from Taylor Geist to secure the Golden Bears the win.

A quick 3-0 lead for the Golden Bears would not be enough to shut out the Knights early, as Mt. St. Mary would return the points right back on WNE, going on a 5-1 scoring run to take a 5-4 lead. The Golden Bears would take exception to that, seeing Rachel Critz come down with a kill while Alissa Hawes and Becca Mayer would send the ball down for kills of their own to help Western New England take their largest lead of the set, a five-point lead, 11-6. The Knights would never get within three points again in the second set as the Golden Bears would bury their opponent from there. Three MSM attacking errors would award the Golden Bears points, while Petty and Hawes would deliver more points for the Golden Bears, who took a 21-13 lead. After the Knights score four of five points at the end of the second set, the Golden Bears would take advantage of three errors by their opponent to come away with a 25-17 second set win.

The third set would prove to be too much for the Knights to handle as the Golden Bears quickly found their grove and took down Mt. St. Mary. Ava Cariddi dropped down the first two kills in the set for the Golden Bears while Hawes would help Laney Melvin's service continue, seeing WNE take a 10-3 lead. The Knights would get two points back and trail 13-8, while Western New England would grab eight straight points to put the match away. Geist, Hawes Petty, and Morgan Bonin would all contribute with kills, while multiple Golden Bears would see action for the first time this season and help contribute to Western New England's 25-9 third set win and 3-0 match victory.

"It was a tremendous team effort from everyone in the first match" said Head Coach Matt Lein. "We really settled in by the third set and were in a great rhythm on both sides of the ball. We flowed well defensively which helped create more chances for our offense."

Inside the Lines:

• The Golden Bears hit at a .175 clip in the three-set match victory. Alissa Hawes hit .292 for the Golden Bears, leading WNE with ten kills and 24 attacks.
• Isabelle Petty continued her dominance on the hardwood, hitting .625 for the match, picking up six kills.
• Senior Taylor Geist continued to guide WNE, grabbing 23 assists in the win.
• MSM picked up 27 total errors in the match, 17 attacking errors, and 10 set errors to give the Golden Bears free points. The Knights hit -0.10 for the match.
• Western New England is now 2-0 all-time against MSM, having last won in 2009.

How it Happened (vs. SUNY Oneonta):

The Golden Bears and Red Dragons would battle early in the first set, with WNE coming off the 3-0 victory over Mt. St. Mary, while the Red Dragons would need five sets to take down the Pioneers of Utica University. Alissa Hawes picked up the first two kills for the Golden Bears, giving the blue and gold a 4-3 lead. Neither team would take larger than a two-point edge until the Red Dragons put together a run in the middle of the opening set to go ahead by four, taking a 14-10 lead for the Golden Bears. The lead would stretch to five before Western New England ripped off three points in a row, grabbing two attacking error points by the Red Dragons while Taylor Geist would catch the host institution off guard, sending a point over the night on an assist from Becca Mayer, getting WNE back within two points. The two teams would then switch off points until again Western New England put together three points in a row, grabbing two aces from Hawes, evening the set at 19. WNE would roar all the way back to take their first lead at 22-21 since the Golden Bears held the 6-5 lead, when Mayer's serve would force another error by the Red Dragons. Despite having the lead, Western New England would see SUNY Oneonta reclaim that edge, taking a 23-22 lead. Western New England would put together three straight points, getting a kill from newcomer Léa Barber, while Hawes would contribute WNE's 24^th point of the match. Barber would finish off the set with a service ace, giving WNE a 25-23 opening set win.

Set two would belong to the hosts, as the Red Dragons would see Western New England jump out to a 10-8 lead before crushing off seven straight points to quickly reverse the score in their favor, taking a 15-10 lead. The Golden Bears would quickly fight back, however, getting four straight points to get within one point. Isabelle Petty would put together a kill while two errors would help Western New England get right back in the set. WNE would bring the score back within one five separate times, though would never be able to even the match or take the lead again, as SUNY Oneonta would grab a kill on the 25^th point of the set to take a 25-21 win over the Golden Bears.

Western New England would fight back in the third set, not letting the close second set defeat deteriorate the visiting squad. WNE jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead, seeing Leah Warren, Alissa Hawes, and Becca Mayer come away with kills. The Red Dragons would put together a stretch run that saw eight of the next ten points fall their way, taking a 14-9 lead, seeing the Golden Bears quickly fall behind. WNE would make a comeback, however, getting kills from Barber and Petty while Taylor Geist continued to set her teammates up with kills, collecting 12 assists in the third set. SUNY Oneonta would take a 19-17 lead though would see Western New England come away with the final eight points of the set to take the win. Mayer, Geist, and Petty would aid the Golden Bears to a 25-19 third set win.

The fourth set would see the Red Dragons hold the lead for the majority of the set despite an early 1-0 lead for the Golden Bears. Western New England would stay within two points of Oneonta until a quick two points would see the hosts take a 12-8 lead. WNE would quickly get three of those four points back, getting an ace from Alissa Hawes, while two errors would power WNE to get back within one. The Red Dragons looked to take off from there, though Western New England would stick with Oneonta on kills from Yemayma Molina and Alissa Hawes. Hawes would continue to be dominant all afternoon long, helping guide WNE to victory. After being down 19-16, WNE would turn up the pressure and record the final nine points of the match without a blemish to close out the fourth set with a 25-19 win and 3-1 match victory. Petty, Hawes, Barber, and Geist would help WNE finish off the hosts for the win.

Matt Lein talked about the play of Barber following today's 3-1 win. "Léa is an incredible athlete. She has been a great addition to this program from the moment she walked in the gym. Today she got to show it on the court. She's connecting well with Taylor (Geist) offensively and flowing well with Becca (Mayer) in the back row. It'll be exciting to watch her develop this season."

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England hit .204 in the win, while Alissa Hawes again led the Golden Bears with 15 kills.
• Léa Barber would record 11 kills and hit .188 in her second match of the season with Western New England to help lead the way to a win.
• Becca Mayer grabbed 23 digs to lead the way for WNE.
• Taylor Geist put up 39 assists and 19 digs for the Golden Bears.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE is set to host their season opener on Wednesday, September 4 at 6:00 PM, welcoming Anna Maria College to the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.