Women's Volleyball Rallies to Defeat Western New England

SRPINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior Riley Waggoner (Simi Valley, Calif.) recorded 11 kills and hit .400 to help the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's volleyball team rally to defeat Western New England, 3-2, in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.

RECORDS:

• Wentworth (8-5, 2-0 CCC)
• Western New England (10-5, 1-1 CCC)

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills – Riley Waggoner, 11; Riley Schoonmaker, 7; Helen Barthe, 6
• Assists – Lexi Zabloudil, 17; Ashley Cao, 14
• Aces – Ashley Cao, 2; Lexi Zabloudil, 2
• Digs – Helen Barthe, 19; Shelby Seage, 16; Peyton Tague, 15; Lexi Zabloudil, 12; Megan Davies, 11
• Blocks – Riley Schoonmaker, 3

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Wentworth jumped out to a 7-6 lead early in the opening set before Western New England scored three straight points to take a 9-7 lead. With the score tied at 11-all, the Golden Bears went on a 9-2 run and took a 20-13 lead. A kill from freshman Riley Schoonmaker (Montgomery, N.Y.) briefly halted the run, however, the hosts scored five of the final seven points to take a 25-16 win in the opening set.
• Western New England held leads of 4-1 and 8-4 in the opening part of the second set before the Black & Gold rallied to tie the score at 10-all after an attack error. The Golden Bears pushed the lead top 17-13 after a service ace, however, Wentworth used a 6-0 run, taking a 19-17 lead after a setting error. Back-to-back kills by the hosts tied the score at 19-all, which started a 5-2 spurt and gave Western New England a 22-21 lead. The Leopards rallied to score the next three points, taking a 24-22 lead after an attack error. Western New England tied the score at 24-all, however, Wentworth closed out the set with a kill from sophomore Helen Barthe (Blythewood, S.C.) and an ace from classmate Lexi Zabloudil (London, Ohio) and tied the match, 1-all.
• Hitting .286 in the third set, the Golden Bears took a 2-1 lead with a 25-16 win. Western New England raced out to a 19-9 lead before four straight Wentworth points brought the Leopards to within 19-13. That would be as close as the Leopards would get as the hosts scored six of the final nine points.
• Wentworth raced out to a 9-3 lead in the fourth set as Waggoner had two kills during this stretch. After Western new England closed the gap to 10-8, the Leopards scored seven of the next nine points and took a 17-10 lead on an attack error. The Golden Bears pulled within five at 19-14 but four straight Leopard points pushed the lead to 23-14. With the Black & Gold holding a 24-18 lead, Schoonmaker put down a kill for the 25-18 win, tying the match at 2-all and sending the match to a fifth set for the fifth time this season.
• With the score tied at 3-all, sophomore Abby Maher (North Granby, Conn.) and Schoonmaker recorded kills to give Wentworth a 5-3 lead. The Leopards extended their lead to 11-8 on a Waggoner kill and held a 12-10 lead before rolling off two straight points to set up match point. Western New England scored four straight points to stave off set point and, after an attack error gave the Leopards match point again, tied the score at 15-all. A service error and a bad set gave the Black & Gold the final two points and a 17-15, match-clinching win.

THE SERIES:

• Today was the 26th all-time meeting between the two teams. Wentworth has won the last six series meetings and Western New England leads all-time, 15-11.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth is at Salve Regina on Wednesday in Commonwealth Coast Conference play.

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