SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 8, 2025) – The Western New England women's volleyball team suffered its third Conference of New England loss on Wednesday night, this time at the hands of the Fighting Scots from Gordon College who defeated the Golden Bears in a sweep, 3-0, from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center. 

Records:

• Western New England: 6-12, 1-3 CNE
• Gordon College: 13-5, 2-1 CNE

How it Happened:

First Set:

• Gordon began the opening set with the first five points of the night to take a quick advantage. Katie Garland had Western New England's first kill of the night to stop Gordon's run while the Golden Bears quickly got themselves back into the match, scoring seven of the next nine points overall to tie the match at seven with Charlei Henkel putting down a pair of kills. 
• The Golden Bears held a lead at 11-10 following a service ace from Morgan Bonin and another lead at 12-11 with a kill by Adrionne Sharp on an assist from Deana Baez. The Fighting Scots then ripped out five of the next six points and never let the Golden Bears come back from there. 
• A pair of aces and kills from the Fighting Scots brought their lead to three, 21-18. Henkel's sixth kill of the set brought WNE back within two but the final four of six points of the set belonged to Gordon, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead in the match, winning 25-21. 
• The Fighting Scots put down 14 kills in the opening set and had five service aces to lead themselves to victory. WNE picked up nine kills, six from Henkel, hitting .158 for the set.

Second Set:

• The two teams stayed even at seven to begin the set as neither took a big advantage over one another. Léa Barber picked up a service ace and kill early on to keep the Golden Bears in the set. After being tied at seven, Gordon ripped off seven of the next eight points to take their largest lead of the night thus far, taking a 14-8 advantage. 
• The Fighting Scots continued to fire on all cylinders in the CNE match, leading 17-10 before the next four points belonged to the Golden Bears with Rachel Critz producing a service ace and a block while Katie Garland had an ace for WNE, bringing WNE within three, 17-14. WNE got within two at 19-17 on another kill from Henkel, looking to get back into the match and steal a set from Gordon.
• Following the kill from Henkel, it would be all 'Scots, who took the final six of seven points in the set to wrap up their second set victory of the night, winning 25-19, taking a 2-0 lead. Haley Hutzler picked up a pair of kills for Gordon to end the set which saw the visitors put down 15 kills and hit a proficient .243 from the floor. WNE had just seven kills in the set overall. 

Third Set:

• Looking to quickly get back into the match, the first eight of 12 points of the third set went Western New England's way. Charlei Henkel put down a pair of kills and a service ace to begin the set while Léa Barber was also on the board with a kill, giving WNE an early 8-4 lead. Gordon would creep back into the match, dropping WNE's lead down to two one following a kill from Teagan Bridweser and an error from WNE as WNE held onto a 9-8 lead. 
• Three of the next four points were in favor of the blue and gold, who took a 12-9 lead but the Fighting Scots fought back in a big way, getting the next 13 points in a row, 12 of which on service from Annika Schmitt, flipping the match completely around and easing Gordon to a third set victory. Western New England attempted to get back into the match with eight of the next ten points, trailing 24-20, but it would be too late as Annie Zimmerman put down the final kill for Gordon, giving the Fighting Scots a third set, 25-20, victory, and a 3-0 match win. 
• The Scots had 12 kills in the final set hitting .089, but the service from Schmitt led to the sweep victory for Gordon. WNE had eight kills and four errors in the set as well as three service errors. 

Inside the Lines:

• Charlei Henkel had ten kills in the match and just a single error, hitting .196 for the match. The Centerton, Arkansas native also had a block assist and nine digs in the match. 
• Léa Barber put down eight kills and had just three errors and led the team with 18 digs. 
• Gordon's Haley Hutzler dropped in 16 kills on 44 attacks, hitting .273 for the match. 
• Annika Schmitt produced 37 set assists for Gordon, 12 digs, and had seven service aces.
• Tonight's match marked just the third time in program history in which Gordon took down the Golden Bears in their own barn. This is the first 3-0 result in favor of Gordon since 2020. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE heads to Elms College this coming Saturday, October 11 for a pair of matches against the Blazers and New England College, starting at 1:00 PM.