The Keene State College women’s volleyball team fell to UMass Boston on the road Saturday November 7, in the LEC Championship game 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-18). The Owls end their season with a 23-9 record, which is the third highest single-season win total in KSC history.
Down the stretch the Owls endured a lot, losing their kills leader and senior outside hitter Angela Silveri in the semi-finals against Rhode Island College due to a shoulder injury. The injury took place in the first set and Silveri would not return for the rest of the post-season. Silveri ended her season with a total of 283 kills and 306 digs and recently recorded the historic milestone of over 1000 career kills and digs.
To lose Silveri early on in an important game was a tough challenge for the Owls, but they were still able to pull off the win, sweeping RIC 3-0 for the win (25-19, 25-23, 25-20).
After her injury, Silveri told her teammates to play with confidence and that as long as they do their jobs everything will be ok.
Photo Editor / Tim Smith
“It was just having faith that they could do it because we wanted to win and deserved it,” Silveri said. “If we believed that we could win, then we would do anything in our power to make that happen.”
Head Coach Bob Wiener told his team, “We’re here, we’re in this now. The coaching staff has your back…don’t think about that now.”
Senior leadership was a crucial part of digging out the win as the Owls were led by seniors Madeleine Nossif (11 kills), Christine Hadfield (two solo blocks, nine kills) and Alexis Michal (33 assists, three service aces and nine digs). Sophomore Rachel Lamica also had 11 kills in the win over RIC.
Senior Middle Blocker, Christine Hadfield said Silveri has been a “key component” to the team and said, “It was definitely a shock to have her out and not on the court with us for the first time in all four years.”
Hadfield also said after the injury, she and her fellow seniors “Just tried to talk it up and pump everyone else up. Everyone was focused on her (Silveri), we all care about her so we were all concerned about what her health was and her status, and we needed to focus everyone back on the game and back on what we’re here for and winning.”
Coach Weiner also recognized the critical performance of senior setter Alexis Michal.
Weiner said, “She is our undisputed leader in that, everyone is confident that she’s got them, she’s got their backs.”
After the championship loss Michal said this season their strong senior class motivated the rest of the team to work hard.
“We have had such a good team dynamic,” Michal said. “The seniors set an example for the underclassmen and they all stepped up. It has been the best team I’ve ever been a part of and a lot of it had to do with the group of seniors we had.”
Michal also spoke of Coach Weiner and what it has been like to work with him for the past four years.
“I’ve been really lucky as a player to be able to work with coach the way I have,” Michal said. “Over the last four years we haven’t had the same assistant coaches, which has been difficult, but it did allow me and Cat Kazazian (fellow captain) to work with our coach in a way we might not have been able to.”
Michal said if they saw anything strategically on the court that Weiner could not see from the sidelines, Weiner was always open-minded to their input and take their advice.
“He has always had our best interest at heart and would do anything to help us succeed,” Michal said. “It meant a lot to be able to have such a good relationship with my coach.”
Nick can be contacted at ntocco@kscequinox.com
