BRISTOL, R.I. (November 8, 2025) – The Western New England women's volleyball team was defeated in straight sets on Saturday in the final match of the season, dropping a 3-0 decision on the road at Roger Williams University. 

Records:

• Western New England: 9-19, 2-8 CNE
• Roger Williams University: 15-10, 9-1 CNE

How it Happened:

First Set:

• The Golden Bears picked up the first three points of the match to start on the right foot, seeing both Katie Garland and Léa Barber drop in kills early to spark the early lead. The Hawks quickly answered with the next three points before Garland dropped in her second kill to keep WNE in front. The Hawks were led by their service game in the opening set, picking up back-to-back points to take their first lead of the match, which sparked a big run for the home team, taking a 10-5 lead over WNE. 
• Western New England punched back with four straight and five of the next six as Leah Warren and Rachel Critz smashed down points for the blue and gold to get back within one, 11-10. RWU then picked up the next six points to force a timeout from the Golden Bears, taking an 18-11 lead. 
• The timeout from WNE sparked back-to-back points from Critz, a kill and an ace as WNE trailed 18-13, but the final seven points of the set went to Roger Williams, who picked up a 25-13 victory, leading 1-0 in the match. The Hawks hit an outstanding .407 for the set, picking up 13 kills and just two errors while WNE collected eight kills and five attacking errors. 

Second Set:

• Coming off momentum from the first set, Roger Williams jumped out in front 5-1 over the Golden Bears to begin play in the second set. WNE then scored the next three points as Barber dropped in a kill and a pair of errors from the Hawks put the score at 5-4 in favor of the hosts. 
• The midway point of the set saw Roger Williams go on another scoring run, dropping in seven of eight points to begin to pull away from the Golden Bears, leading 15-8. Sage Pycz and Rachel Critz combined for a block to get the Golden Bears back in the score column, trailing 16-9 in the set.  The teams exchanged points until the Hawks came away with a 20-14 lead, following another kill from Barber, but RWU took the final five of six points to end the set in their favor, 25-15. 
• The Golden Bears picked up just six kills in the set while RWU smashed down 15 in the set, hitting .375. 

Third Set:

• The Hawks had nine of the first 12 points in the set to take a quick 9-3 lead over Western New England, including a run of five straight to take an early lead. The Golden Bears never led in the final set as the Hawks held a double-digit lead for the majority of the set. 
• Following back-to-back errors that led to a pair of WNE points, the Hawks dropped in seven straight points and led 23-7 before the Golden Bears picked up four of the next five points, with Abby Krulis coming up with a pair of kills, but it would not be enough as Roger Williams finished off the set with a 25-11 victory, dropping the Golden Bears in straight sets, 3-0. 

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England ends its season with a loss on Saturday. WNE was led by Léa Barber on offense, coming up with nine kills, the most of any player on Saturday. 
• WNE hit .000 for the match, collecting an even 20 kills and 20 attacking errors in the match. 
• RWU hit an uncontrollable .300 for the match, picking up 36 kills and just 12 errors. The Hawks also totaled six blocks in the game. 
• The Hawks produced ten service aces as the Golden Bears had ten reception errors, their demise this season. 
• The Golden Bears end the year with a 9-19 record, losing their final six matches of the season.  

Coach's Corner:
Coach Matt Lein was asked for a final comment on the season. "This is just the beginning. We have a great core group of athletes returning next year. We gained some very valuable experience this year and we will take that into our spring training and next season!" Lein stated.