SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 5, 2025) – The Western New England women's volleyball team was swept on home court in their final regular-season home match of the season, seeing the Rams come away with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday night from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center. 

Records:

• Western New England: 9-18, 2-7 CNE
• Suffolk University: 11-16, 5-5 CNE

How it Happened:

First Set:

• The Golden Bears got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening set, with Katie Garland serving up an ace to get the match started. WNE took a three-point lead after a kill from Adrionne Sharp, leading 5-2 in the early goings. Suffolk responded quickly, forcing a timeout from Western New England, scoring nine of the next ten points to go on their biggest scoring run of the opening set, taking an 11-6 lead. 
• The Golden Bears picked up back-to-back kills from Deana Baez and Morgan Bonin to get back within four, 13-9, before Suffolk responded with the next two to take back its six-point lead. From there, WNE dropped down the next six points to even the score. Garland picked up three aces in the sequence, helping the Golden Bears even the match at 15. 
• From there, the Rams began pulling away again, responding with five of the next six points, leading 20-16. WNE notched two straight after a pair of errors from the Rams, but Suffolk finished off the set with the final five of six points, taking the opening set 25-19. 
• Suffolk hit .188 for the opening set, coming up with 12 kills while WNE had the same amount of kills as errors, seven each.

Second Set:

• The Rams jumped out to a 5-0 lead to begin the second set of play, seeing Sam Michon grab a pair of kills and an ace from Aislinn Lanigan paced the Rams early. Suffolk held a 7-2 lead before Western New England began to break down the Rams and get back into the set. Olivia Long provided a spark for Western New England off the bench while Léa Barber continued her dominant attack, seeing the Golden Bears get back into the set early, trailing 8-6. 
• Suffolk pulled away for just a moment, until the service of Katie Garland continued to be excellent, pulling off a pair of aces through the midway point of the set, evening the set at 12. The two teams exchanged points at 13-12, 14-13, 15-14, and 16-15 until the Rams scored three in a row to lead 19-16 following kills from Chloe Clement and Emmy Thomander.  
• Western New England held its own in the final stages of the set, coming up with six of eight points after being down 22-18, evening the match at 24 following a pair of kills from Barber and another from Rachel Critz. With the match tied, a kill from Suffolk's Clement and an attacking error from the Golden Bears gave the Rams the second set victory, 26-24. Suffolk hit .128 for the set while Western New England had ten kills and a .079 attack percentage for the set.

Third Set: 

• Léa Barber had WNE's first two points of the third set, both coming on kills set up by Deana Baez. The third set stayed close, with the Rams opening up a mini two-point lead, 6-4, before five straight from the blue and gold gave WNE a 9-6 lead, forcing a Suffolk timeout. Laney Melvin's service provided an ace while Olivia Long contributed a block and a kill to lead WNE to a 9-6 lead. 
• The Golden Bears' lead stayed until Suffolk came up with three straight points, including an ace from Emily Norgrove to take a 12-11 lead. The Golden Bears responded with the next two points, as Barber continued to fly all over the court. WNE held a three-point lead at 18-15 before the Rams dropped six of the next seven to put the Golden Bears on their heels. 
• A pair of aces from Suffolk aided their 21-19 lead in the third set before Western New England got back within one three different times, 21-20, 22-21, and 23-22, but Suffolk's Grace Cervenka and Chloe Clement blocked the final point of the match, giving the Rams a 25-22 third set victory and a 3-0 match victory. 

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England hit just .073 from the floor in the match. WNE was led by Léa Barber, who had 11 kills on 36 attacks. 
• Katie Garland shined for the Golden Bears in service, coming up with seven of WNE's eight aces on the night. Garland also came away with five digs in the match. 
• Deana Baez had 18 of WNE's 22 set assists for the night. 
• No Suffolk Ram was in double digits in kills on Wednesday night, but a pair, Chloe Clement and Sami Shore, heavily contributed to the success, both hitting .429 for the night. 
• Suffolk gets its revenge on WNE from last season's CNE Tournament match, where the Golden Bears swept Suffolk on its home floor, 3-0. This is the first regular-season sweep victory for the Rams over WNE since 2021, both coming at home for the Golden Bears. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE plays in its final match of the season on Saturday, November 8 at 12:00 PM, heading to Roger Williams University.