Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MORRISVILLE, N.Y. (August 29, 2025) – The Western New England women's volleyball team bounced back from a heartbreaking five-set loss to open the season against Alfred State College, after leading two sets to none, but fell by a final score of 3-2. The Golden Bears would come alive in the final three sets of the second match against Geneva College (Pa.) to come away with a 3-1 victory to end the night with a 1-1 record. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-1
• Alfred State College: 1-0
• Geneva College (Pa.): 0-1

How It Happened (vs. Alfred State):

Opening Set:

• The Golden Bears opened with the first point of the season on a kill from junior transfer Adrionne Sharp. Alfred State would rip off the next three points to take a 3-1 lead. 
• Ten of 11 points at the midway point of the opening set would go Western New England's way, forcing a timeout from Alfred State, seeing WNE take a 16-9 lead. Charlei Henkel and Léa Barber led the way for the Golden Bears on their run.
• Henkel would fire up three kills to end the first set in Western New England's favor, 25-22

Second Set:

• Western New England would control the opening 13 points of the second set, winning nine of those. Katie Garland picked up a pair of kills to lead the way. 
• With WNE taking a big lead, the Pioneers would push back and get within six, but the Golden Bears, led by their .303% hitting percentage in the set, would come up with the convincing 25-17 victory. 
• WNE picked up 11 kills in the set as well as a pair of blocks, including a solo block from Deana Baez. 

Third Set:

• Looking to close out the opening match of the season in three sets, Western New England would get out to a solid start before Alfred State would push back at the midway point of the set with a run of seven points in a row to force a Western New England timeout, leading 14-8. 
• The Golden Bears would pull within three points at 22-19, but the Pioneers would pull off the final two of three points in the match to come up with the 25-20 victory over the Golden Bears, forcing an additional set. 
• Western New England saw Alfred State hit .231% overall, while the Golden Bears produced seven attacking errors in the set to let the match continue. 

Fourth Set: 

• Alfred State stormed out to a 3-0 lead to begin play in the fourth set, looking to force a deciding set in the opening match of the season. The Pioneers would keep their lead for the majority of the fourth set before the blue and gold would storm back, looking to close the match in four. 
• The Golden Bears picked up just six kills in the set to Alfred State's 16. Gloria Stem led the Pioneers through four sets with 18 overall kills. 
• Western New England tied the match at 24, but the final two points of the set went to the Pioneers, who would force the fifth and final set of the match. Eight of Western New England's points would come on service errors. 

Fifth Set:

• The Golden Bears would never lead in the final set and would come up short. Alfred State would put on the pressure with six points to move the score from up one to up six before the Golden Bears would get back on the scoreboard, leading by as many as six in the final set. 
• Alfred State would hit .889% in the final set, missing on just one attempt, smashing down eight kills.
• After being up two sets to none, WNE would not be able to find a way to close out the match and would final by a final score of 3-2 to Alfred State to begin the season. 

Inside the Lines:

• First-year Charlei Henkel led Western New England with 13 kills, hitting .222% for the match. 
• Léa Barber was also in double figures in kills for the blue and gold, picking up 11. 
• Madison Stauss led Western New England with 22 set assists, while Deana Baez picked up nine.
• The Golden Bears hit a respectable .206% to begin the season, but were outmatched by Alfred State, who smashed down 58 kills, picked up 51 assists, and hit .224% for the five-set match. 

How it Happened: (vs. Geneva College (Pa.))

Opening Set:

• Geneva opened the game with the first five of six points to get off on a good first in their first match of the season, Western New England's first. Three straight serves from Charlei Henkel would get WNE three straight points to get back within a point, 7-6. 
• The Golden Tornadoes would begin to pull away again, forcing a Western New England timeout at 19-14. After an attempt to mount a comeback following the timeout, WNE would fall short, dropping a 25-21 decision in the first set. 
• WNE committed six attacking errors and hit just .111% from the floor in the opening set overall. Geneva was aided by three service aces in the set, 

Second Set:

• Léa Barber opened the second set with a kill to get the Golden Bears started on an assist from Morgan Bonin, but Geneva would respond with the next four points, including a pair of service aces from Heather Seubert. 
• Geneva did not let the Golden Bears back into the match through the midway point of it, leading by as many as six, 17-11, after getting help from outsider hitters Rachel Baird and Hannah Kelley. 
• Despite the tough hill to climb, WNE would rip off six points in a row to take their first lead of the match, getting kills from Adrionne Sharp, Léa Barber, and Lauren Chagnon, taking a 23-20 lead. The timeout would not affect the play of the Golden Bears, getting the final two points of the set to come away with a 25-20 second-set victory. 
• WNE put down 12 kills in the set as well as two blocks to lead them to victory. 

Third Set:

• Western New England opened the third set with a 3-0 lead in three straight attacking errors from Geneva and never looked back, cruising to a third set victory. The first eight points of the third set for Western New England would come from Geneva errors, while Katie Garland would throw down a kill to give the Golden Bears a 9-6 lead. 
• The kills would keep coming for WNE in the third set, seeing Rachel Critz, Léa Barber, and Morgan Bonin continue to make an impact on the match. The final six of seven points would go Western New England's way to win the third set 25-14. Bonin would record the final throwdown of the set. 
• WNE collected .154% from the floor, earning eight kills. The Golden Tornadoes collected ten attacking errors in the set overall. 

Fourth Set:

• Geneva picked up the first six of seven points in the fourth set to jump out to a commanding 6-1 lead. The Golden Tornadoes continued to add to their lead, leading by as many as seven in the set. 
• Charlei Henkel picked up a service ace, followed by a Katie Garland kill to get WNE back within four, 12-8. Geneva would then come up with four of the next five points, regaining their big lead. 
• Western New England would come all the way back and take the lead in the set, using a 7-0 run, fueled by kills from Barber and Garland, taking a 19-18 lead. WNE would end the match on a 12-1 run to finish off Geneva and come up with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set to win the match 3-1. 

Inside the Lines:

• Rachel Critz led Western New England with nine kills in the match. Critz also helped at the net with a pair of block attempts. 
• Madison Stauss and Abby Thomas both had double-digit assists on the night, collecting 14 and 11, respectively. 
• The Golden Bears hit .178% from the floor as a team, picked up five total blocks, and had 53 digs in the match. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England will be back in action on Saturday, August 30, at 10:00 AM to take on Thomas College and at 2:00 PM to take on SUNY Morrisville in the Mustang Tournament.