SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 25, 2024) – The Western New England women's volleyball team opened Conference of New England (CNE) play for the first time on Wednesday night from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center, falling 3-1 to the visiting Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday night.

Records:

• Western New England: 9-3, 0-1 CNE
• Wentworth Institute of Technology: 9-5, 1-0 CNE

How it Happened:

Wentworth got cooking early in the first set, coming away with the opening seven of eight points to take an early 7-1 lead, not the way the Golden Bears were looking to open conference play this season. The Leopards would see their lead grow to as many as night as the visitors opened a 14-5 lead, seeing Kayla DeCastro become a premier performer for the Leopards in the first set. The Golden Bears would look to get back into the set after Yemayma Molina, Taylor Geist, and Alissa Hawes would drop kills, grabbing their tenth point of the opening set, trailing 16-10. WNE would get back within four after Alyzza Alecia dropped back to back service aces, trailing 20-16. From there, Wentworth would dominate the first set, picking up kills from Riley Schoonmaker and Emma Sanders to give Wentworth a 1-0 lead. The Leopards hit .368 in the opening set while Western New England would connect at a not too shabby .257%, though four attacking errors and four service aces would drop WNE in the opening set.

The Golden Bears would bounce back and flip the script on Wentworth in the second set, opening the set with five of the first six points. WNE picked up four early kills, one each from Molina, Hawes, Isabelle Petty, and Léa Barber, to jet out to the early lead. Wentworth would close WNE's early lead with a kill by Schoonmaker, dropping WNE's lead to one at 9-8. Wentworth would tie the match at ten before Petty and Ava Cariddi would pick up big points for the Golden Bears in a row to give the hosts a two-point lead, 14-12. The Golden Bears would put together four points in a row at the end of the set, seeing a 17-16 lead become a 21-16 lead after Hawes, Geist, and Barber would collect kills, giving WNE a five-point advantage. Petty would end the second set in the favor of the Golden Bears, picking up back-to-back kills from Geist to give WNE the second set victory, 25-18. The Golden Bears hit .382% in the second set while picking up three service aces and 16 kills to lead the way in the second set, evening the match at one all.

A back and forth third set would see Western New England pick up the early 5-3 lead as Leah Warren and Isabelle Petty would continue to play important roles for the home teams, looking to defeat last year's conference champions. WNE would see their lead grow to three when Alissa Hawes would continue her excellent play, throwing down a kill. From there, Wentworth would begin stringing points together, picking up points on WNE attacking errors, taking a 9-8 lead. The Golden Bears would see Yemayma Molina earn three points for WNE via kills, while a service error would give Wentworth a 15-13 advantage. The Leopards would then rattle off the next seven points to take a commanding 22-13 third set lead, while the visitors would finish off the third set with an Emma Sanders kill and two mistakes by the Golden Bears to give WIT a 25-15 third set win. Nine attacking errors would put the Golden Bears behind in the third set, while Wentworth would come down with four blocks in the set to take a 2-1 match lead.

In what was the final set of the match, the Golden Bears would see the Leopards take the first two points of the set before coming back to tie the set at 2-2 with a Taylor Geist and Yemayma Molina block. Wentworth would earn a 6-3 lead, with three points coming from attacking errors by WNE. Despite that, the Golden Bears came back to tie Wentworth at ten on a Léa Barber kill. Wentworth would begin to pull away though the Golden Bears would have answers, looking to their senior leadership to guide the way as Alissa Hawes would smash down two kills to give Western New England a 17-16 lead. Wentworth would trail by one, 20-19, and would come away with the next three points to take a 22-20 lead. WNE would respond with two of their own to grab a tie, 22-22. Wentworth would then put down the final three points of the match, including two kills coming from Emma Sanders, to come away with the 25-22 fourth set victory and 3-1 match win. Western New England would hit .149% in the fourth set, collecting six attacking errors while WIT produced 17 kills.

Inside the Lines:

• For the match, the Golden Bears would hit .205%, thanks to a .382% attacking percentage in the second set, the only set victory for WNE in the match.
• WNE made 22 attacking errors, including nine in the third set, to put the Golden Bears behind.
• Wentworth made just 13 attacking errors, nearly half coming in their set-four victory.
• Alissa Hawes led Western New England with 18 kills in the match, hitting .341%. Taylor Geist picked up 41 set assists for WNE.
• Emma Sanders led the match with 23 kills, while setter Olivia Vaughn grabbed 49 set assists.

Coaches Corner:

• When asked about the conference opening defeat, Head Coach Matt Lein mentioned, "We played hard. That is definitely a top team in the conference, and for us to take a set from them definitely shows the promise from our senior leadership (Yemayma, Alissa) while first-year Léa (Barber) is doing some great things on the defensive side of the ball. We just need to clean up a couple things.
• In looking forward to Saturday's upcoming home tri-match with SUNY Cobleskill and Worcester State, Lein said, "Looking to bounce back. These two matches will be very winnable for us as long as we play Western New England volleyball."

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears host their only home tri-match of the season on Saturday, September 28 at 11:00 AM for WNE vs. SUNY Cobleskill. The middle match at 1:00 PM will feature SUNY Cobleskill and Worcester State, while the end of the day will wrap up with WNE taking on Worcester State at 3:00 PM.