BOSTON, Mass. (September 24, 2025) – The Western New England women's volleyball team fought to the brink with the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday evening in both teams' Conference of New England opener. The Leopards picked up a 3-0 victory to take down the Golden Bears for the third straight time overall in the two programs' histories. 

Records:

• Western New England: 5-9, 0-1 CNE
• Wentworth Institute of Technology: 11-3, 1-0 CNE

How it Happened:

First Set:

• The Golden Bears got off to a rocky start to begin play in the opening set, seeing the Leopards come up with a pair of kills and a service ace to get out to a 3-0 lead. Léa Barber picked up Western New England's first kill of the match, but the Leopards stayed ahead early, leading 6-3. 
• The service game was not strong for the Golden Bears heading into the midway point of the opening set, notching a pair of service errors. Back-to-back kills from Barber and Adrionne Sharp got the blue and gold back within two, 11-9, before Wentworth forced a Western New England timeout, picking up four straight points, including three on errors from the Golden Bears, falling behind 15-9. The blue and gold responded following the time, scoring the next six points of the set, tying it at 15, forcing the Leopards to call time. Lauren Chagnon's service aided the Golden Bears, while three attacking errors from Wentworth allowed WNE back into the set. 
• Following the Wentworth timeout, the Leopards responded with a kill and picked up four of the next six points to jump out to a three-point lead again, following a service ace from Sydnee Smith. Deana Baez dropped in a kill for the Golden Bears to get back within two. An attacking error from the Leopards got the Golden Bears back within one, but Wentworth scored the final four of six points to take the opening set by a final score of 25-22, leading 1-0 in the match. 
• WNE hit .133% from the floor in the opening set, picking up nine kills. The Golden Bears committed five reception errors, which proved costly. Adrionne Sharp led WNE with five kills.

Second Set:

• Western New England got out to a great start to begin the second set, leading 8-5 at one point. Kills from Rachel Critz, Léa Barber, and Charlei Henkel led to a timeout from the Leopards early on as the Golden Bears hit an unconscious .571% through the first 13 points of the set while Wentworth made a pair of attacking errors early. 
• Wentworth rallied back into the match and evened the score at ten, following a Western New England attacking error, and jumped into the lead for the first time in the set at 12-11 on another WNE error. A Léa Barber kill stopped the 6-0 run for Wentworth, who picked up a 15-11 lead before the Barber point as Western New England looked to climb back into the set. 
• Wentworth continued to lead, but the Golden Bears hung around long enough to make the second set interesting. The Leopards looked to be turning the second set in its favor, leading 21-16 and then again at set point 24-21, but the blue and gold did not go away, getting kills from a pair of kills from both Rachel Critz and Léa Barber, fighting off three set points to even the match at 24. 
• Western New England picked up the next point at 25-24, but did not finish off the set, seeing Wentworth notch a kill and ace to once again get set point. This would go on as both teams exchanged point-for-point before the Leopards broke 30 and then 31 to come away with a second set win over WNE, 31-29, leading 2-0 in the match. 
• WNE hit well from the floor in the set, notching 16 kills and hitting .265%. The Golden Bears produced just two attacking errors but were undone on their service game again, producing six errors. 

Third Set:

• Katie Garland had Western New England's first point of the third set, a kill, but Wentworth followed with the next four points and eight of the next nine overall to overtake WNE early, 8-2, forcing a timeout from WNE Head Coach Matt Lein. 
• The pesky Golden Bears fought back with Critz picking up a kill and a service ace from Barber, among errors from Wentworth, to climb back within two, 9-7. Wentworth then went on a deep run that WNE could not stop, scoring nine of the next ten points to put the match out of reach, leading 18-8, their first double-digit lead of the match. 
• The Golden Bears did all they could to get back into the match, but one of the CNE's top teams closed out the match with a pair of kills and took the third and final set by a final score of 25-15, beating the Golden Bears 3-0. 

Inside the Lines:

• The teams were statistically close for much of the match, with Wentworth producing 38 kills while Western New England dropped in 34. WIT hit .183% for the match, just a tick above WNE's .134%. 
• Ten service errors and 11 reception errors brought down WNE's chances to take a victory on Wednesday evening. 
• Léa Barber led the blue and gold with 14 kills on 48 attacks, hitting .229% overall. 
• Madison Stauss (14) and Deana Baez (12) both were in double figures in set assists. Stauss (14) and Charlei Henkel (20) led the blue and gold in digs. 
• The Leopards earned their third straight win over WNE in the 21^st meeting since 2004 between the teams.  

Up Next on the Schedule:

• After a weekend away from the court, WNE will host a pair of matches during the week next week, welcoming Nichols College to the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center on Tuesday, September 29, at 7:00 PM for CNE play, while Colby-Sawyer College makes an appearance in Springfield the next night, also at 7:00 PM.