On Saturday, Sept. 6, KSC Volleyball played two games at Bates College, one against Bates and one against the University of New England (UNE), but the Owls returned with two losses.
First, the Owls played the home team, Bates, and lost 3-0. The first set was lost 17-25, despite the Owls getting 10 kills, three of which by junior outside hitter Colleen Fraser and two by senior middle blocker Annaliese Rudberg. Both junior setter Alexis Small and first-year setter Ava Harkins got four assists
The second set ended in a 15-25 score in favor of Bates. They stayed close in score until they were down 12-15, then the Bobcats shut the Owls out until the end of the set.
The Owls only had five kills for the set, two more coming from Rudberg. Harkins had one service ace, as well as three assists.
The third set concluded in an overall loss for the Owls, ending with a score of 14-25. Small had one assist, and Harkins had two. First-year libero Amanda Barry scored a service ace near the end of the set, as well as an assist. Fraser scored two of the five kills in the set.
Next up, the Owls played the UNE. Although the sets were much closer than the previous ones, Keene State still ended up losing 3-0.
The first set started with a quick lead from the Owls, getting an 8-2 lead. Even after the Nor’Easters caught up in score, the Owls took a 19-12 lead. This was short-lived as UNE took over the score and ended it at a close 23-25.
Small scored herself two service aces, and senior libero Grace Christian and sophomore outside hitter Marina Miller each scored one. Along with her two aces, Small had four assists, as did Harkins. There were 11 total kills for the set, four of which were from senior outside hitter Gigi Stake, three from Miller, and first-year middle blocker Katie Taylor and junior outside hitter Sarah Bartels each had two.
The second set ended with the same score of 23-25 in favor of UNE. The teams stayed neck and neck towards the beginning until the Nor’Easters got an 18-12 lead, and kept the lead until the end of the set.
Sophomore libero Delia Ryan scored two out of the three service aces for the set, Rudberg having the other one. 14 kills were scored in the set, five of which were scored by Taylor and three by Fraser. Small had six assists, and Harkins had eight.
For the final set, the Owls started with a 10-4 score, but the Nor’Easters caught up again and stayed close in score until the end, ending in a loss for the Owls at a 22-25 score.
The Owls scored nine kills, with Fraser, Bartels, Stake and Rudberg each having two, and Taylor having one. Small had seven assists, and Ryan had one. Taylor had the only block of the game.
The Owls’ next game is Saturday, Sept. 13, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
hayley@kscequinox.com
