Volleyball Defeats Western New England, 3-1

BOSTON – Suffolk volleyball captured its first Commonwealth Coast Conference victory of the season as the Rams took down the Golden Bears of Western New England, 3-1, Wednesday night at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The triumph came via set scores 25-21, 25-20, 22-25 and 25-16. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Western New England 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-5, 1-2 CCC) | Western New England (10-6, 0-3 CCC)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-21, SUFFOLK)

• Down 5-3, Suffolk pulled back thanks to block from Grace Cervenka and McKenna Keowen followed by a Keowen kill to level the playing field at 5-all. 
• The Rams grabbed the lead and built a 10-5 edge as Keowen and Jess Weber notched back-to-back kills and Cervenka and Weber teamed up for a block. 
• Out of a Western New England timeout, the blue-and-gold built a six-point gap, 16-10. 
• Suffolk service errors allowed the Golden Bears to hang around and cut the deficit to two, 23-21. 
• Jasmine James' kill set up set point and an attack error by WNE's Sarah Scott gave the first frame to the host. 

SET TWO RECAP (25-20, SUFFOLK)

• The score tied five times and the lead switched twice before momentum shifted in Suffolk's favor. 
• A Golden Bear's miscue jump started a 4-0 Rams run that gave the host a 12-9 upper hand. In that stretch, Harmony Johnson served an ace and Alina Nowakowski rocked a solo block.
• A Western New England timeout did not stall Suffolk as it continued to build a comfortable cushion, 18-18, which forced the visitors to use their second break of the stanza. 
• Weber and Cervenka teamed up at the net out of the huddle to give the Rams a six-point edge. 
• The blue-and-gold cooled off as things evened off. 
• Déjà vu occurred as James set up set point again on a kill. This time though, the junior ended up putting the frame away herself on her sixth kill of the night.  

SET THREE RECAP (25-22, WESTERN NEW ENGLAND)

• Suffolk had a lot of ground to make up as Western New England tacked on the first seven points of the set. 
• The Rams pulled their way back into the thick of it and knotted matters at 11-all on an ace from Cervenka. 
• From 12-all, Weber and Nowakowski blocked a big attack to push the blue-and-gold in front. 
• The Golden Bears responded with five points in a row to flip the script back in their favor, 17-13. 
• Suffolk had to play catch-up once again and every time it threatened WNE answered with a run of its own. 
• In a five-point hole with set-point in the visitors favor, 24-19, Johnson served an ace to keep Suffolk alive. 
• The Rams would not go down without a fight and clawed within two, 24-22. 
• That's as close as Suffolk would get as Scott made up for her hiccup that wrapped up the opening set in for Suffolk and instead claimed the frame for her own team.  

SET FOUR RECAP (25-16, SUFFOLK)

• It was Suffolk how gained the edge early, 7-2. 
• That advantaged bloomed to 10-5 to force WNE into a timeout early. 
• The Rams continued to keep the pressure on and built a 19-12 lead. 
• Suffolk never looked back out of the Golden Bears second break of the frame and coasted to the set and match victory.   

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Keowen contributed a 15-kill, 10-dig double-double that went along with two assists, one block and one assist. 
• James notched 13 kills, three digs and one block. 
• Weber tallied 10 kills, three digs, three blocks and two aces. 
• Johnson set-up the 51-kill attack with 36 handouts. 
• Kenzley Bell recorded 19 digs, seen handouts, one ace and one kill. 
• Cervenka had her name all over the scoresheet with six kills, five digs, four blocks, one ace and one assist. 
• Morgan Kelsey had 10 digs, one ace and one assist to her credit.
• Nowakowski added six kills and three blocks.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk took down Western New England for the third straight meeting. 
• The Rams moved to 4-6 against the Golden Bears since 2003. 
• Six outings were determined in four sets. Suffolk is 2-4 in four-set decisions against WNE. 
• Suffolk is unbeaten, 3-0, versus the Golden Bears in the Scott Blanchard era. 
• At home, Suffolk is 3-1 versus WNE. 
• Keowen had her first collegiate double-double.   

POST-MATCH PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk hosts its Dig Pink matches this Saturday, Oct. 1 when it welcomes Union and Fitchburg State to Smith Court. The Rams will first take on the Dutchwomen at 11 a.m., before facing the Falcons at 3 p.m.