SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 16, 2026) – The Western New England women's volleyball team dropped a Friday night Conference of New England matchup inside the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center by a final score of 3-0, seeing the visiting Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University hit .212 in the win.
Records:
- Johnson & Wales: 11-5, 4-1 CNE
- Western New England: 5-13, 1-4 CNE
How it Happened:
First Set:
- The opening seven points of the match went back-and-forth, with Léa Barber dropping down a service ace and kill for WNE. JWU dropped down three points in a row to take a 6-4 lead, however.
- The Golden Bears rallied back to take an 11-8 lead following back-to-back attack errors from Brooke Caquelin to take the advantage, JWU chipped away at WNE and tied the match at 13, getting a kill from Nevaeh Arnold.
- With WNE ahead 18-17, JWU dropped in four points in a row, coming up with a pair of kills to lead 21-18. Western New England could never recover and saw the Wildcats take the opening set, 25-20.
- WNE hit .167 in the opening set, putting down just six kills, while JWU smashed down 15 kills and had a 0.2 attack percentage.
Second Set:
- Kendra Robayo and Olivia Long combined for a block early in the set before Léa Barber put down a kill on an assist from Maddison Stauss to put the Golden Bears ahead early in the set.
- Western New England held a three-point edge, 11-8, before Johnson & Wales battled back with five of the next six points, picking up three kills in the process to continue their hot start.
- JWU led by as many as five in the set, as WNE could never fully get back in the match and would fall by a final score of 25-21, following a kill and service ace to end the set.
- The Wildcats had their best set of the match in set two, dropping in 12 kills, hitting .257 overall.
Third Set:
- A back-and-forth opening ten points had the match tied at five after another kill from Barber, but the Wildcats took over from there, picking up six straight points to stun WNE and take an 11-5 lead.
- WNE got back within four at 13-9 following two errors from JWU, but the Wildcats made another run to bury the Golden Bears, dropping in six of the next nine points to take a 20-13 lead.
- Katie Garland picked up a kill late in the match, but the Golden Bears fell by a final score of 25-17, dropping the match in three straight, falling 3-0.
Inside the Lines:
- Léa Barber led the Golden Bears on the offensive attack with eight kills, hitting .138 for the match. Barber also picked up two set assists and two blocks in the match.
- Charlei Henkel dropped in seven kills for the Blue and Gold.
- WNE had dropped its last five matches to the Wildcats overall after starting 6-1 in the opening seven matches between the two teams.
Up Next on the Schedule:
The Golden Bears travel to Endicott College on Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 PM for another CNE match.
