Keene State women’s volleyball secured a Little East Conference (LEC) title Saturday, Nov. 5 at their in-state rival Plymouth State University’s Foley Gymnasium. This is their second league title, and their first since 2008.
Plymouth State entered this match with a 21-6 record and went 7-1 in the conference’s regular season slate, their only loss being at the hands of the Owls in late September. The Panthers fought hard coming into the finals, as they had secured a 3-0 victory over Eastern Connecticut State on Thursday, Nov. 3 to get to host the final match on their home turf.
The Owls, though, had other plans.
Although the Panthers started off the match in the lead, winning the first set with a score of 25-16, the Owls weren’t giving up so soon. They came back in with a vengeance and secured a tight victory in the second set with a score of 26-24.
The Panthers gained some momentum in the third set, hoping to take the advantage over the Owls and ultimately succeeding with a score of 25-21. The Owls and the Panthers remained neck and neck throughout the match, neither team wanting to give up the chance of an LEC title.
The fourth set saw the Owls taking the lead over the Panthers once more with a close score of 25-22. In the fifth and final set, both teams gave it everything they could, but the Panthers would see an end to their reign as the Owls took the set with a 15-11 win and a match victory of 3-2.
Junior setter Kacie Blanchet was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, joining Sarah Peterson of the 2008 team to win that honor.
REWRITING HISTORY: THE ROAD TO THE TOP
The Owls earned their spot in the final by pulling a 3-1 victory over the University of Massachusetts-Boston Beacons in an LEC semifinal match Nov. 3 at the Spaulding Gymnasium.
This is a familiar matchup; the teams competed against each other in last year’s LEC semifinal game, which ended in defeat for Keene State.
This year, the Owls were determined to even the score.
The Owls dominated the opening set, pulling away from a 13-13 tie by scoring five times in a row.
The second frame saw the Owls keeping their lead, but the Beacons came up behind them, leading with a score of 9-8 after scoring three times in a row.
Senior captain and outside hitter Sydney Johnson and senior right side hitter Cassidy Samuelson scored back to back to try to reclaim the lead. First-year outside hitter Gigi Stake and Samuelson got the score to 15-11, but the Owls couldn’t shake the Beacons, who then scored five times straight for their first lead to force an Owls timeout.
Efforts from Samuelson and juniors setter Kacie Blanchet and middle blocker Veronica Kroha helped Keene State reclaim the lead with a score of 18-16, but it was short lived as the Beacons came back and outscored the Owls 9-3, taking the set.
The Owls went into the third set determined to take the lead of this match. Keene State tallied the first two points and then upped the score 5-3 on a kill by Kroha. An ace by Stake and swing by Johnson were part of a 4-0 burst that opened up a five-point lead for the Owls. They piled it on even more from there, going up 12-5 on consecutive kills by Johnson. UMass-Boston put up four points in a row to draw within three points, but the Owls doubled them up 6-3 over the next nine points to restore a six-point edge (18-12), culminating with points from Samuelson and Stake. The Owls ultimately outscored the Beacons 9-2 down the stretch to turn a four-point gap into an 11-point set win. The Owls ended this set with a 25-14 win.
The fourth and final set gave the Owls their last chance to claim a spot in the LEC final match. UMass-Boston took the lead, hoping to keep their season alive, but that wouldn’t last long as the Owls came back and reeled off seven of the next eight points, capped off with a kill by sophomore middle blocker Molly Wetherbee and two aces by Johnson to take a 7-3 advantage.
UMass-Boston tried to bring the momentum back by bringing the score 9-9, but that was their last chance, as the Owls swooped in and took the lead for the final time. The evening ended with a set victory of 25-19 and a match victory of 3-1. The Owls had secured their spot in the LEC final game.
Senior captain and outside hitter Sydney Johnson said, “We played our hardest and we pushed through. UMass-Boston has always had a strong program so it felt even better knowing they knocked us out of the semi[finals] last year and we got to do it this year. I have been saying since pre-season that we were going to the championship…”
“Spaulding Gym was a great environment for the game [Thursday night]. The fans were loud and into it, which made it fun for the team,” said head coach Robert Weiner. “I don’t think we were tense as much as it was really hard work to beat UMass. They were pretty relentless defensively, so there was some stuff we had to overcome to get the win.”
“I’m so proud of this group,” he added.
Keene State received the LEC’s automatic bid into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Women’s Volleyball tournament. The format sees eight regional sites across the country with eight teams at each. The first round begins on Friday, Nov. 11 with a matchup and location to be determined.
Piper Pavelich can be contacted
at ppavelich@kscequinox.com
