Box Score PROVIDENCE, R.I. (September 20, 2024) – Despite having a 2-0 lead in the match and three separate match points in the third set, the Western New England women's volleyball team fell on the road on Friday night under the lights inside the Wildcat Center at Johnson & Wales University (JWU) (R.I.), dropping a non-conference match to JWU in five sets, 3-2.

Records:

• Western New England: 9-2
• Johnson & Wales (R.I.): 5-6

How it Happened:

Western New England opened the opening set of the match by grabbing the first two points, as Alissa Hawes would pop two kills back-to-back to open the scoring. Taylor Geist would pick up the opening assist to start off her outstanding set night. WNE would open a three-point lead at 5-2 after Léa Barber and Isabelle Petty sent back a block on an attack from JWU's Nevaeh Arnold. Western New England would cling on to a one-point lead after the Wildcats would pick up a kill from Peyton Barber, giving Western New England an 8-7 edge. From there, three straight points and five of six points would belong to the Golden Bears after Western New England would pick up points on four attacking errors by JWU while Hawes would add her third kill of the set, bringing Western New England's lead to 14-8. WNE's six-point lead would quickly evaporate, seeing Johnson and Wales come all the way back and score nine straight points, picking up five kills in the process, taking a 17-14 lead. Western New England would not be taken back by JWU's push, coming back to tie the match at 20, taking advantage of a Johnson & Wales attacking error. Barber would give Western New England their lead back at 21-20 while the Golden Bears would finish off the Wildcats with the final three points of the opening set, seeing a block by Geist and Petty end the set in favor of the Golden Bears, winning 25-22, taking a 1-0 match lead. The opening set saw the Golden Bears hit .233, picking up 11 kills and two blocks. WNE gave away six points on service errors.

Johnson and Wales picked up the first point of the second set, though Western New England would fire up the next five points to take an early 5-1 lead. Alissa Hawes and Taylor Geist would pick up kills in the sequence while the Golden Bears would pick up three points on attacking errors from the Wildcats to come away with the early advantage. WNE's lead would get to as many as five in the early stages of the match at 8-3 when Léa Barber was back in the kills column on an assist from Taylor Geist to give WNE their five-point lead. The hosts would close the gap down to two at 9-7, and the two teams would exchange point-for point to keep the lead to two in favor of WNE. Western New England would pick up back-to-back points for the first time since their 9-4 lead Hawes put down a kill while an attacking error would set the Wildcats behind another point, giving the Golden Bears a 14-12 lead. Leah Warren smashed down her third kill of the match that gave the Golden Bears a 16-13 lead. WNE would never see their lead slip, in fact, seeing their 18-16 lead grow to as many as six, picking up a 23-17 lead thanks to a block by Geist and Yemayma Molina to give the Golden Bears their six-point lead. JWU would find a spark late and put a scare into the WNE women's volleyball team though an attacking error at 24-21 would cost the hosts, seeing Western New England come away with the 25-21 second set victory, leading 2-0 in the match. The second set saw WNE hit .198% from the floor while picking up two blocks and two service aces. The Wildcats would hit into eight attacking errors in the set while hitting just .118% as a team.

For the second straight set, the WNE women's volleyball team would see JWU open the set with the first point before scoring the next five points to again open the third set with a 5-1 lead. Alissa Hawes (2) and Yemayma Molina would record kills for WNE in the span to give the road team the early lead. Hawes would continue to be excellent on the floor for the Golden Bears, registering four early kills for the Golden Bears as JWU would begin to mount their comeback, seeing WNE lead 7-5 following the fourth Hawes kill. JWU would get within one ay 8-7 before WNE would start to pull away thanks to Léa Barber's kill, while Molina would contribute with a solo block to give the Golden Bears a 12-8 lead. The Wildcats would put together a run of four straight points from there to even the match at 12, led by a kill from both Peyton Oliver and Skylar Winchester. JWU's lead would not grow to more than one while Western New England would fight to gain their lead back, seeing Taylor Geist and Isabelle Petty come away with clutch moments in the service game and on the floor, giving WNE a 21-16 lead. Western New England would hit the 24-point mark, having multiple chances at match point, leading 24-21, 24-22, and 24-23 before the Wildcats would complete the comeback, tie the match at 24 all, and score the next two points to win the third set in stunning style, seeing Nevaeh Arnold come away with three kills in the sequence to beat WNE 26-24. Western New England attempted 38 attacks in the third set, picking up 13 kills, though nine attacking errors in the set would prevent the visitors from completing the three-set sweep.

The fourth set would favor Western New England to start, seeing the Golden Bears jump out to a quick 3-0 lead as Léa Barber would produce three straight aces on serve to open the scoring. Johnson and Wales would quickly tie the score and then take the lead, coming back with five straight points to take a 5-3 lead. The back and forth fourth set would see the Golden Bears tie the match at seven, seeing Alissa Hawes and Taylor Geist help WNE get right back into the match. Western New England would continue to see the home team throw down kills to stretch their lead. The Wildcats would expand their lead to five points after Ellie McLeannan would drop a service ace on the Golden Bears, giving JWU a 19-14 lead. Western New England would not be able to get back within two points of a tie as the Wildcats would finish off Western New England on a service error, seeing Johnson and Wales come all the way back from two sets down and survive three match points from the Golden Bears to force a deciding fifth and final set. WNE recorded just eight kills in the fourth set while seeing their opponent hit .526%, smashing down 12 kills in total.

In their first fifth set of the season, Western New England would see Barber open the set with a kill. For JWU, this is their third match this season that would go the distance, going 1-1 thus far. JWU would come back to tie the Golden Bears at one in the 15-point deciding set, though WNE would go on a run, led by the service of Becca Mayer, to give the Golden Bears a 6-2 lead. In the sequence, WNE would see Taylor Geist and Leah Warren notch kills while Isabelle Petty and Geist would combine for a block. Following a timeout from the Wildcats with Western New England lead 6-2, JWU would pick up the next two points on an Oliver kill and service ace from Calie Tretera to get right back into the set at 6-4. WNE would take advantage of a JWU service error to get their lead back up to 8-5 as the teams switched sides to finish off the match. JWU would pick up the next five points of the match following the flip of sides, leading 9-8. The Golden Bears evened the match at nine with an attacking error by JWU. The teams would trade points at nine, ten, and eleven, seeing Léa Barber and Geist come away with kills. The Wildcats would come away with the next two points of the deciding set, coming away with points on attacking errors by the Golden Bears, forcing a timeout for the blue and gold, trailing 13-11. Following the timeout, the Wildcats would reach match point, taking a 14-11 lead before Hawes would fend off JWU with a kill to get WNE back on the board, a 14-12 deficit. The Wildcats would pick up the final kill of the match, seeing Peyton Oliver end the match, completing the comeback for the home team, defeating WNE 3-2.

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England would fail to hold onto an early lead in the fifth set, dropping the fifth set by a final score of 15-12 and dropping the match 3-2.
• WNE hit just .095 in the fifth set and .161% for the match.
• Alissa Hawes again led the way for the Golden Bears, picking up 22 kills in the match.
• Léa Barber collected 14 kills for the Golden Bears while dropping down three service aces and 21 digs.
• Western New England has now dropped three straight matches to JWU, handing the Wildcats their fifth win of the season.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears open CNE play with a match with Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday, September 25 at 6:00 PM from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.