Statistics

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Western New England University secured three frames by the narrowest possible margins during a 3-1 decision (28-26, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23) against the University of New England in Conference of New England (CNE) women's volleyball action at the AHL Center on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 19).

The evenly-matched teams now hold nearly identical records on the season -- the Golden Bears at 16-4 overall (2-2 CNE), and the Nor'easters at 15-4 (2-2).

UNE logged an 11-3 run through the middle of the 1st set to take a 20-15 lead, but seven of the next eight flipped the hosts in front (22-21). Still, Western New England needed to fight off three set points against (22-24, 23-24, 24-25), and two kills apiece from Taylor Geist and Alissa Hawes finished off the opening stanza.

The Nor'easters put six straight on the board midway through the 2nd to take a 14-12 edge, only to see six of the ensuing eight go for WNEU (18-16). UNE recorded the next four, though, and the visitors remained ahead or level until 23-22, but then two kills from Hawes and an error sealed the session for the Golden Bears.

Aside from six ties, the Nor'easters were ahead for the rest of the 3rd period. Knotted at 19-all, kills from Ellijah Hanley and Hannah Nowell, along with blocks from both -- in combination with Kailyn Reilly -- got UNE on the overall scoreboard and back in the contest.

In the 4th, the visitors took their first lead at 6-5, extended it to 12-6, and still held a narrow cushion at 21-19. A pair of aces by Ava Cariddi soon shifted control over to Western New England (22-21), though, and Geist's fifth winner on 12 swings (match-best .417) ultimately clinched it.

Hawes paced the Golden Bears with 16 kills and 11 digs. Lea Barber added 13 kills and 15 digs. Geist wound up with a double-double of 38 assists and 10 digs. Becca Mayer and Cariddi tacked on 18 and 12 digs, respectively.

For the Nor'easters, Hanley put up 13 kills, while Viktoria Pavlyuk supplied nine. Kassidy Bradshaw went for a double-double of 28 assists and 10 digs, and tossed in five kills; she eclipsed the 1,000-assist plateau for a career, as well. Reilly was a factor in eight of the team's 11 blocks, and Kelsey Bradshaw racked up five aces. On the back end, Ke.Bradshaw had 16 digs and Nowell dialed up 13 more.

UNE pays a visit to Suffolk University for a league duel on Wednesday.