Box Score

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Sophomore Grayson Szczepaniak tallied five of her match-high 10 kills in the opening set as the University of New England women's volleyball team topped Wentworth Institute of Technology by a score of 3-0 on Wednesday evening (Oct. 22) in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match at the Harold Alfond Forum. Set scores were 25-23, 25-15, and 25-14.

The victory was the fifth in-a-row for the Nor'easters (11-12, 4-1 CCC), who swept the Leopards (13-11, 2-4 CCC) for a 10th consecutive meeting.

Szczepaniak added to her .600 hitting performance on the night by notching three solo blocks and a pair of aces for 15.5 points. First-year Courtney Lambrese chipped in with 11.5 points, on five kills, three aces, and three solo blocks. Senior Leah Janelle finished with nine winners (four in the 3rd set), while first-year Brooke Gibbons posted 23 assists and a team-best 10 digs. Sophomore Nikki Mathewson registered eight digs.

For Wentworth, first-year Sydney Meyers ended with seven kills, and senior Shannon Ponce totaled 15 assists. Defensively, junior Hannah Bailey led all players with 13 digs, and senior Sam Curran contributed eight more.

The initial frame featured 15 ties and eight lead-changes, with the biggest advantage going to UNE at 13-9. The Leopards promptly responded with five unanswered points to make things close again, but a block from Lambrese and kill by Janelle at 23-all gave the edge to the hosts.

The Nor'easters built an 8-2 cushion early in the 2nd, before seeing it reduced to two (8-6). A five-point run of errors against Wentworth pushed the gap up to seven (13-6), and UNE never looked back.

Big Blue led for all but a tie at 2-2 in the 3rd, and once a 5-0 spurt extended the margin to 9-3, the Leopards could not get any closer than three (11-8) the rest of the way.

Both sides continue CCC play this weekend against the two remaining unbeatens in the league. Wentworth hosts Western New England University (5-0 CCC) on Saturday (1 p.m.), while UNE travels to face Roger Williams University (6-0 CCC) on Sunday (2 p.m.).